Épinay, Louise Florence Petronville d' (1726-1783) Memoires et Correspondance.
Paris: Chez Brunet, 1818.
First edition, three octavo volumes; re-bound in modern green morocco backed cloth boards, spine lettered in gilt, edges speckled with red (minor foxing to first few leaves of each volume, sporadic spotting, a few minor stains, occasional light, in-frequent marginal dampstains in vol. 2; open corner tear not affecting text to p. 348 of vol. 1; large marginal repairs affecting text of pp. 417-420 of vol. 3); 8 x 4 ¾ in.
Cioranescu 27755.
Renowned saloniste and femme de lettres, Mme. d' Épinay ran in the circle of prominent 18th-century figures such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Freidrich Melchoir Grimm, Denis Diderot, and many others. Mme. Épinay was the only woman to make regular contributions to Grimm and Jacques Henri Meister's notable French periodical, Correspondance litteraire (1753-1813) which listed many members of the nobility and cultural elite among its subscribers. Her letters and journals included in the present lot offer an authentic picture of the "philosophes" and other savants from the reign of Louis XV, illuminating an aspect of often-disregarded cultural contributions made by women during the Enlightenment period.
