(LESCONVEL) Lot n° 34

Relation du voyage du prince Montberaud dans l'île de Naudely... Merinde (Rouen). Pierre Fortané. 1705. In-12, full antique brown basane binding. Spine ribbed, decorated with gilt irons and fillets. Weaknesses to the jaws of the first cover. XXIV ff; 383 pages. First edition under this title of a political utopia illustrated with an unsigned portrait-frontispiece and 11 plates hors texte. It is the work of Hervé Pezron de Lesconvel (1650-1722), a Breton gentleman. The novel first appeared in 1703 under the title "Idée d'un Règne doux et heureux". Dedicated to the Duke of Burgundy, it was a great success, reminiscent of Fénelon's Télémaque. It is a useful study of morals at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, which it examines with ferocious criticism. The sequel announced by the author was never published. Barbier IV, 228.