Voyages du Capitaine Lemuel Gulliver en Divers pays Eloignez by Jonathan Swift -3 volumes 

Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels was first published in 1726. This is the first French translation which appeared the following year. Published anonymously, it  never enjoyed great popularity in France, as the title suggested that a certain Gulliver was the author, and people did not draw the connection between this figure and the author of Le Conte du Tonneau (A Tale of a Tub), a work which had made Swift popular in France.

This scarce edition includes the rare Vol III, which was not included in the original English work, containing the so-called ‘Spurious Gulliver’ and published in 1728 to capitalise on the book’s success. All three volumes bear the inscription of Barrone De Rehbinder, a Baltic-German noble family, suggesting this set has been complete perhaps since publications.

Original binding with raised bands, red morocco and complete with 13 plates inc. frontpeice: Vol 1. 212pp frontpiece plus 3 illustrative plates and 2 maps; Vol 2. 220pp 3 illustrative plates and 3 maps; Vol 3. 242pp 1 illustrative plate. Sympathetic repairs in places on the spine. 4 x 6 1/2″. Text block very clean, complete and free of foxing. Small 1/2″ hole to page 19/20 of Vol. 2 affecting text.

Ref: Just, M.M. The Reception of Gulliver’s Travels in Britain and Ireland, France, and Germany. There was also a Paris edition of the same date, but Teerink 371 gives priority to this Hague edition, stating it was published in January 1727.

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