NOGARET, François-Félix
L’Aristénète français
Versailles, de l’imprimerie de Cosson, 1797
2 parts in 1 vol., in-18, contemporary half leather, 2 frontispices, [19] 1 288 p. + [6] 244 pp.; good copy, binding slightly rubbed, joints split, first half-title missing, second title page trimmed without loss of text
First edition of Nogaret’s free adaptation of Aristaenetus’s Erotic Letters from the 6th century BC. With an imaginative translation and large additions by his own hand, Nogaret turns this collection into a beautiful example of libertine literature at the end of the 18th century. Originally intended with more volumes to follow, the Oeuvres of Nogaret were discontinued after this publication. “L’Aristenete francais n’est qu’une imitation paraphrasée des Lettres d’Aristenete. Nogaret a eté souvent bien plus libre que l’auteur grec” (Gay I, 299).
