FLAUBERT Gustave. Sentimental Education. Histoire... Lot 114

FLAUBERT Gustave. Sentimental Education. Histoire d'un jeune homme. Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1870; 2 vol. large in-8 (245 x 155 mm) jansenist, old green morocco bindings, spine ribbed, inner lace and gilt edges on witnesses, covers and spine very slightly faded, slipcases (Alix). First edition. - ONE OF THE FIRST 25 COPIES ON HOLLAND GREEN PAPER (marked "Second Edition"). The bibliophile Auguste Lambiotte counted seven with dedications (Le Livre et l'Estampe, 13-14, 1958) but did not know about this one. AUTOGRAPHIC DEDICATION AT THE HEAD: "to Mr Cuvillier-Fleury homage of the author Gve Flaubert. One of twelve (sic) copies on Hollande paper". Cuvillier-Fleury, of the French Academy, former secretary to the Duc d'Aumale, a respected critic, had not spared Flaubert in his reviews. He deplored the "revolting crudity of Madame Bovary" and later denounced the lack of moral sense in L'Éducation sentimentale, whose hero was, for him, nothing more than an impertinent sensualist. - No special cover was made for the thicker copies on Hollande; they are therefore shorter than the volumes here. From the library of Michel Demont with bookplate.