[RESTIF DE LA BRETONNE (Nicolas-Edme)].

[RESTIF DE LA BRETONNE (Nicolas-Edme)].

La Découverte australe Par un Homme-volant, ou Le Dédale français ; Nouvelle très-philosophique ; Suivie de la Lettre d'un Singe, &ca. Imprimé à Leïpsick : et se trouve à Paris, sn, [1781]. 4 volumes in-12 of 624 pp, 86 pp (mal ch. 82), [2] pp, pp. [95]-334. Marbled calf, ornate ribbed spines, title and greevel pages, red tr. (period binding). Some wear to spines. Very rare first edition of a fantasy novel, illustrated with 23 anonymous copper-engraved figures, including a double-page frontispiece in volume IV. Several of the figures are quite free, while another depicts, two years before the Montgolfier brothers' invention, a device for flying through the air. One of the few copies to include the faux-tittre of Volume I with the date 1781, and pages 337-422 of Volume IV, whose removal was ordered by the police. "This work, one of the most singular that Restif wrote, is highly sought-after, not only by Restifians, but also by collectors of books on utopias and aeronautics. "It is truly remarkable," says Lacroix, "that Restif carried out his research into how to travel in the air three years before the discovery of the Montgolfier brothers, who first experimented with aerostats in June 1783. It is still remarkable, although no one has pointed it out, that Restif, in this work (t.I, p. 80-98), foresaw a vehicle that could run without horses. In the interests of peace, he proposes (III, p. 622-624) an association of European nations. Even more curiously, Restif, anticipating the Society for the Protection of Animals, asks that we "be fair to animals" (III, p. 481). What's more, Restif, in Découverte australe, expressed himself on war quite in the manner of our times [...]" (Rives-Child, 278-280). Very rare, especially in contemporary binding. Ex-libris Dr. Desnos.