GAUDIN (Jacques). Voyage en Corse, et vues politiques... Lot 33

GAUDIN (Jacques). Voyage en Corse, et vues politiques sur l'amélioration de cette isle; suivi de quelques pièces relatives à la Corse, & de plusieurs anecdotes sur le caractère & les vertus de ses habitans. Paris: Lefèvre, 1787. In-8, xxxi-(one blank)-263-(one) pp. marbled fawn calf, cloisonné and fleuronné spine with garnet-red title page, filleted edges, marbled edges; headbands worn, top board a little unsolled (period binding). FIRST EDITION. Copper-engraved fold-out map of Corsica. A "PRECIOUS TEMOIGNAGE OFFERED BY AN ECLAIR OBSERVER" (Eugène Gherardi), this Voyage en Corse is the fruit of several years of observations, and includes interesting ethnographic developments, for example on the so-called "Moresque" dance, but it sometimes calls for reservations in its judgments and in its recitals, even though its stated aim is to unveil the king's latest conquest to the French public. IT WAS IN THIS WORK THAT MERIMEE FOUND THE ANECDOTE THAT INSPIRED MATEO FALCONE (here p. 224-225). JACQUES GAUDIN (circa 1740-1810), VICAR GENERAL OF THE NEBBIO CHURCH IN CORSICA, was an Oratorian originally from the Vendée. Open to the spirit of the Enlightenment, he professed highly advanced ideas, for example on the marriage of priests, and welcomed the Revolution: he agreed to be grand vicar to the constitutional bishop of Luçon, was elected deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, and left the ecclesiastical habit. After this period, he became a magistrate and librarian in La Rochelle. A learned member of the Académie de Lyon and correspondent of the Institut de France, he published several historical and philosophical works in addition to the present voyage. Provenance: Xavier Versini (triple bookplate, i.e.: his signature on the title and p. 11, then his initials on p. 26).