The Provinciales or letters written by Louis de Montalte to a provincial of his friends, & to the RR. PP. Jésuites sur le sujet de la morale, & de la politique de ces Pères. Cologne, Pierre de la Vallée, 1657. Small in-12 of (12) ff. 398, 111 pp. Brown calf, spine decorated.
First printing of the first edition in-12 elzévirienne, with continuous pagination. Final text revised by Pascal himself and adopted in all subsequent editions. A few small wormholes without gravity.
"It is known that Pascal's Provinciales first appeared in loose sheets, from January 23, 1656 to March 24, 1657. The Elzévirienne edition, the first one which has a continuous pagination, followed closely the original edition. So much so that the eighteenth letter, which occurred when the printing of the volume was completed, forms a separate part (pp. 369 to 398) and must have been added afterwards. The pseudonym Pierre de La Vallée is not the invention of the Elzeviers. The French publishers had thought before them to join together in volume the letters published separately, and had printed a title bearing the fictitious address of Cologne at Pierre de La Vallée. It is this title that the Elzeviers limited themselves to reproducing" Willems (Tchemerzine, IX, 70; Willems, 1218.)
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