Skip to Content

DIDEROT, (DENIS).

La Religieuse. - [CALLING OUT RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS]

Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn52668
Paris, Buisson, (1796/97) - An Cinquième De La République. 8vo. Very nice contemporary half calf with gilt spine. Minor, barely noticeable repair to upper capital and slight bumping to corners. A very nice and clean copy, with only very minor brownspotting. Printed on good paper. With the half-title (bearing the "Décret concernant les Contrefacteurs" on verso). Book plate of Guy de Portuales to inside of front board. (4), 411, (1) pp.

The very rare first edition of Diderot's famous novel, "The Nun", which was actually begun as an elaborate practical joke, but which ended up as one of the most famous novels of the period. A great succes-de-scandale, "The Nun" has both fascinated and unsettled the vast reading public since its first appearance. It started out as a series of letters from a fictitious character, the nun Suzanne, to one of Diderot's friends, the Marquis de Crosmare (who Diderot was trying to lure back to Paris), describing her intolerable life in the convent and imploring him to help regain her freedom and her renounce her vows. The fictitious letters were later revised and written in to the novel that we know today. The work was completed in ab. 1780 and was published posthumously in 1796/97, attracting enormous attention and bringing to light a number of issues that had not previously been publically addressed. It focuses on the then-current practice of forcing young women into convents in order to get them out of the way, on the unnatural life of the convents, and on the corruption in religious institutions and among the clergy. As such, it caused an outrage when it appeared and and became an instant succes-de-scandale. "A novel mingling mysticism, madness, sadistic cruelty and nascent sexuality, it gives a scathing insight into the effects of forced vocations and the unnatural life of the convent. A succes de scandale at the end of the eighteenth century, it has attracted and unsettled readers ever since. For Diderot's novel is not simply a story of a young girl with a bad habit; it is also a powerfully emblematic fable about oppression and intolerance. This new translation includes Diderot's all-important prefatory material, which he placed, disconcertingly, at the end of the novel, and which turns what otherwise seems like an exercise in realism into what is now regarded as a masterpiece of proto-modernist fiction." (From the Oxford University Press edition, 2005). Tchemerzine IV:471
Address:
Silkegade 11
DK-1113 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone:
CVR/VAT:
DK 16 89 50 16

Recently Added From Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S

Regras methódicas para se aprender a escreuer o…
More Photos
VENTURA DA SILVA, JOAQUIM JOSE.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62100
Lisboa, Officina de Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, 1803. Folio-oblong (365 x 255 mm). In contemporary half calf. Wear to extremies, upper part of spine with loss of leather. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. With, primarily marginal, brownspotting throughout. Dampstain to inner margin and upper outer margin of last 10 ff. 32 ff. Rare first edition of the most celebrated Portuguese treatise on calligraphy. Joaquim José Ventura da Silva (1777–1849), regarded as one of Portugal's finest calligraphers and teachers of writing, composed this methodological guide to handwriting in which he combines a historical survey of scripts used in Portugal with practical instruction for teaching and learning penmanship.Ventura da Silva is reffered to by Innocencio (Diccionario Bibliographico) as "one of the best Portuguese Calligraphers". A second edition was published in 1819, a third in 1841, and a facsimile was published in Porto in 1899.
More info
John Locke et les philosophes francais. La…
More Photos
SCHØSLER, JØRN.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62682
Oxford (Voltaire Foundation), 1997. 8vo. In the original blue cloth publisher's binding with gilt title to spine. With the original dust jacket. Ownership signature to inside of front board. Internally clean. VIII, 183 pp.
Minne af von Linné, fader och son. 2 parts.
More Photos
EDIN, SV.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62673
Stockholm, Nordström, 1808. 8vo. In contemporary half calf. Wear to extremities, upper half of spine partly detached. Inner hinges split. With light brownspotting throughout. (8), 136, 102, (10) pp. + 2 engraved portraits and 2 engraved plates, of which one is folded. First edition. The volume is divided into two sections entitled “von Linné den äldre” and “von Linné den yngre.” The first contains the panegyric on Linnaeus delivered at the Växjö gymnasium on the occasion of the Linnaean centenary. The second opens with a memoir of Linnaeus the Younger, followed by “Historiska upplysningar till Carl von Linné den äldres lefverne” Soulsby 2647.
More info
Udvikling af Læren om Interessentskab og de samme…
More Photos
BANG, P. G.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62669
Kjøbenhavn, Seidelin, 1829 & 1833. 8vo. Three parts in two volumes, both in the original green paper covered boards. With author's presentation to Danish Professor in Low F. C. Bornemann in both volumes. Wear to spines and scratches to boards. Internally very nice and clean, printed on good paper. (2), 182 pp.; 134 pp. Presentation copy of the rare first edition of P. G. Bang’s seminal work, Udvikling af Læren om Interessentskab og de samme nærmest vedkommende Retsforhold – the very first Danish treatment of the subject, and a milestone in Scandinavian legal history. This pioneering study is regarded as the first jurisprudential exposition of corporate law in Denmark anticipating later systematic treatments of partnership and company legislation. His work established a legal-theoretical foundation for the understanding of partnership agreements, shareholders’ relations and the broader legal framework governing commercial associations. The copy was given by Bang to F.C. Bornemann, a Danish legal professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1840 to 1861, primarily known for applying philosophical methods to legal science. He was influenced by contemporary German philosophers, notably Hegel, in his work on legal philosophy. Peter Georg Bang (1797 – 1861) was a Danish politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark 1854–1856
More info
The True Watch and Rule of Life or a direction…
More Photos
BRINSLEY, JOHN.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn61602
London, Humphrey Robinson, 1648. 8vo. In contemporary full calf with triple ruled fillets to boards. Wear and soiling to extremities. Missing leather on upper part of spine and lower front corner of spine. Prevvious owner's name to title-page. Internally with marginal dampstaining throughout. A few leaves with tears and a hole. (18), 205, (8), 251 pp.
Planternes Metamorphose. Fire Forelæsninger af K.…
More Photos
MARTIUS, P. v.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62468
Kjøbenhavn, 1840. 8vo. In recent blue boards. Nice and clean. 80 pp. First Danish translation of Martius' Metamorphosis of Plants. Martius is famous for outlining the modern classification of palms and prepared the first maps of palm biogeography.