Ballanche

1819 · 40796 — Paris: De l'imprimerie de Didot l'aîné 1819. Fine. De l'imprimerie de Didot l'aîné Paris 1819 14.50 x 23 cm relié First illustrated edition and marked as second edition after the original published in 1815 by the same publisher. 6 figures by Bouillon in the antique style engraved by Baquoy. Fine printing on laid paper and elegant typographic execution by Didot. Contemporary full green straight-grained morocco binding. Smooth spine with 4 flat raised bands decorated with 3 Restoration stamps multiple decorative rolls fillets etc. Gilt title and date. Covers stamped in blind with a central Restoration roundel; 4 large corner stamps connected by 3 fillets forming a frame. Fine copy very fresh some worming on tissue guards and in margins of engravings. Very fine unsigned master binding. Philosophical and poetic novel praised by Chateaubriand of whom Ballanche was a friend. Ballanche while respecting the Greek myth makes Antigone a Christian heroine. More than a novel it is a sort of prose poem in the style of Chateaubriand's Martyrs in which Ballanche substitutes vengeance for inexorable fate. Antigone forms one of the elements of Ballanche's Social Palingenesis where humanity progresses through trials and expiations. Bookplate: Bibliothèque de Courbonne. De l'imprimerie de Didot l'aîné hardcover