Novelle tartare tradotte dal francese nell’idioma italiano.
12mo. 3 parts in one volume. 156 pp.; 156 pp.; 150 pp. Prettily bound in contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine title.
€ 800.00
Charming Italian edition of the "Mille et un Quart-d'heure. Contes tartares", originally written in French (in 1715) by Thomas-Simon Gueullette (1683-1766). The collection of orientalist stories was ranked alongside the "Arabian Nights". Although the main purpose of this work, like that of its illustrious model, is entertainment, it also boasts a certain didacticism, particularly about the Tartars and their customs. Tartary was Central Asia, occupied by Turko-Mongol peoples, divided into Chinese Tartary, Russian Tartary, and independent Tartary. In the "Contes tartares" Doctor Abukeler must find a cure for the king's blindness, and until he returns the doctor's son must tell the king a story every day for a quarter of an hour or suffer death.
Rare; only three copies located in library catalogues internationally (Università di Bologna, Biblioteca nazionale Marciana, Biblioteca Civica Rovereto), none outside Italy.
Faded library stamps of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Rome, to front flyleaf and title-page.
Occasional browning, otherwise very well preserved.
OCLC 799511527. ICCU UBOE\124483.
