Lettres Chérakéesiennes mises en François...

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de l'Imprimerie du Sacre…, Rome, 1769. Octavo, a good, clean copy in original quarter calf and plain grey boards, some wear. First edition of this 'reverse' imaginary voyage describing the imaginary European travels of a Native American Iriquois.

Maubert de Gouvest (1721-1767) was a diverse and prolific French writer, known for his irreverent style, and for a vast oeuvre which often appears both anonymously and under fictitious imprints. This text is a wonderful example. Originally published as Lettres Iroquoises in 1752, the Lettres Chérakéesiennes reprinted thirty-six of the original text's forty-three letters and issued them with the new title and a fake Roman imprint and imprimatur.

Throughout, the text is a thinly veiled attack on French mores, as the Iriquois 'Igli' offers a calm and protracted criticism of French religion and society. Thus, while Igli's letters to the tribal chief Alha express his wonder and pleasure at his visit to Europe, they also highlight the oddity of many of their customs, particularly regarding religion and law. Confronted with this, Igli often appeals to the 'Great Spirit' as an infallible guide - something which he sees as sadly lacking amongst the Europeans. In presenting a largely positive, if heavily Westernised view of Native American life, this work forms an important part in the tradition of the 'noble savage'.

With the bookplate of the Duc de Richelieu.
Barbier, II p, 1228.

• AUD 1,550.00 > otras divisas
• nº de pedido: 005_432

• librero: Hordern House (AUSTRALIA)