LE SAGE, Alain Rene

Adventures of Gil Blas

(SMOLLETT, Tobias) LE SAGE, Alain Rene. The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane. A New Translation, By the Author of Roderick Random. London: W. Strahan et al., 1782. Four volumes. 12mo, full polished speckled calf, green morocco labels. $600. Handsome four-volume edition of Smollett's translation of Gil Blas, with 33 engraved plates. "With Don Quixote and Rabelais, it can be considered the greatest foreign influence on 18th-century English comic fiction." Drabble, 322. Smollett's translation is considered the standard English version. In his own works, Smollett borrowed much from the style of Lesage, and from Gil Blas in particular. "Smollett's hero, like Gil Blas, recounts a life of varied adventures, which he experiences in the company of a servant; he enters the service of a physician and meets with old schoolfellows, robbers, disillusions, and in the end an unexpected fortune" (DNB). Armorial bookplates of previous owner. Fine condition.

• USD 600.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: 5935

• bookseller: Bauman Rare Books (USA)