BARBEY D'AUREVILLY ( Jules). Les Diaboliques.... Lot 2

BARBEY D'AUREVILLY ( Jules). Les Diaboliques. Paris, E. Dentu, 1874. In-12, 5 introductory pages [title, title, dedication, 2 pages of preface paginated v to viii], 348 pp. numbered 7 to 354, and 1 unnumbered page of table, brown half-chagrin with corners, spine ribbed, gilt head, binding a little worn, preface leaves yellowed, freckles as often (old binding). ORIGINAL EDITION, of which no large paper was printed. "Put on sale in November 1874 with a preface where Barbey claimed the right to paint everything since these stories are true, the book caused a scandal. As with Baudelaire and Flaubert, legal proceedings were initiated. The case was dismissed in January 1875, Barbey having agreed to withdraw his book from sale [...]. Out of a print run of 2200 copies, 480 were seized and destroyed" (Roger Pierrot in En Français dans le texte, n° 300).