Littérature ancienne (avant 1800)

La librairie KOEGUI organise son fonds par siècle : cette collection rassemble la littérature antérieure à 1800, du XVIIe siècle au tournant révolutionnaire.

Voir plus

Nos exemplaires de Voltaire, de Fénelon, de Crébillon ou d'Érasme reflètent le soin qu'apportaient les bibliophiles de l'époque au choix de leurs ouvrages. Typographie, illustration de grande finesse, choix du papier, reliure : rien ne devait manquer. Les auteurs du XIXe siècle figurent dans notre collection [littérature XIXe siècle]. Estimation gratuite sur demande.

0 products

No products found
Use fewer filters or remove all

The 18th-century book: the golden age of French publishing

The 18th century was the great century of the French illustrated book. Parisian and Dutch publishers vied for the best illustrators: Moreau le Jeune, Marillier, Eisen, Choffard. A volume such asVoltaire's Henriade, published in 1789 in Kehl in the forty-volume edition that Beaumarchais wanted entirely illustrated by Moreau le Jeune, is not judged by its status as a first edition: it is judged by the quality of the paper, the fineness of the engravings, and the editorial ambition of a project that the Revolution interrupted before its completion. Our copy includes a portrait engraved by Tardieu and ten figures, in a contemporary binding signed by Bradel le Jeune: it is the only volume in the series that was completed.

Large paper and figures before the letter: the bibliophile's criteria

The same reasoning applies to Fénelon's Télémaque, published in Year IV (1796) by the Imprimerie de Crapelet: one of 200 copies on large vellum paper, with Marillier's figures "before the letter," meaning printed before the engraver inscribed the caption below the image, when the plate is new and the line is at its sharpest. For 18th-century illustration enthusiasts, this is the criterion that differentiates between two seemingly identical copies.

Scholarly editions and 17th-century old books

Our collection also covers scholarly editions from the beginning of the century. Erasmus's In Praise of Folly (Leide, Pierre Vander An, 1713) is the first edition of this French translation and the first printing of its engravings. Boileau-Despréaux's Œuvres en vers (Geneva, Fabri et Barrillot, 1716), in two volumes, constitutes one of the most complete editions of the corpus: satires, epistles, Art poétique, Lutrin, a treatise on the sublime, critical reflections, and historical clarifications provided by the author himself. It is not the original, which dates from the end of the 17th century: published only five years after the author's death, it is the edition that his contemporaries chose to read the text in its most complete state.

Expertise and collation: the method of the antiquarian bookseller

The old book is the territory of the bookseller's true knowledge, where their expertise and limitations are expressed. Each item in this collection undergoes a complete examination: nature of the binding, determination of the edition and printing, collation. In printed works before 1800, pagination may contain errors and requires the bookseller to follow the signatures, those letters printed at the bottom of the gatherings that allow the order of the volume to be reconstructed and missing leaves to be detected.

For illustrated 18th-century books, the presence of the complete set of figures is as crucial as the condition of the text. Our copy of Voltaire's La Pucelle d'Orléans (London [Paris, Cazin], 1780), printed on large octavo paper while the current edition is in duodecimo, is accompanied by the very rare set of figures: two distinct states of each engraving, which doubles the documentary value of the object. The binding is signed Chambolle-Duru.

Members of the SLAM since our founding in 2011, we apply the syndicate's standards to every appraisal.

FAQ
  • What is an editio optima?
    In old books prior to 1800, the first edition is not always the best. The editio optima refers to the edition that offers the most established text and the most carefully produced object: selected paper, accomplished illustration, revision by the author or by a scholarly editor. This is the criterion we apply to our selection of ancient literature.
  • Is a 17th or 18th-century book necessarily valuable?
    No. Many volumes from this period are common and not highly sought after. The value depends on the text, the illustrator, the paper, and the binding. A Boileau in worn, unremarkable sheepskin sells for a few tens of euros; the same author on large paper illustrated by Moreau le Jeune, in a signed binding, is in a different valuation category.
  • How do I get a book from before 1800 appraised?
    Send a photograph of the title page, the frontispiece if present, the condition of the binding, and, if present, the ex-libris or armorial plate. As members of the SLAM, we provide free appraisals. For important libraries, we travel by appointment throughout France.