LE PASSE PARTOUT ~ galant par Monsieur **** Chevalier de l’Ordre de l’Industrie & de la Gibeciere. ‘A Constantinople [i.e. Holland?], A l’Imprimerie de Sa Hautesse’, 1710.
pp. [6], 232, with engraved frontispiece; title printed in red and black.
[bound with:] COURTIN, Antoine de. Traité de la jalousie, ou moyens d'entretenir la paix dans le mariage. Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier, 1696. Pp. [10], 168, [9], [3], with engraved frontispiece.
[and:] CHAVIGNY [DE LA BRETONNIÈRE, François de] Octavie ou l'Epouse fidelle. Nouvelle historique par le Sieur de Chavigny. Cologne: Pierre Marteau, [c.1700?]. Pp. [2], 109, [1].
3 works in one vol., 12mo (128 x 70 mm), contemporary quarter pink-stained tawed calf, paper spine label, marbled boards, spine and extremities worn. An attractive, unsophisticated copy from the Fürstenberg Library at Donaueschingen, but without the usual large puple inkstamps typical of that library.
Gay describes this Le Passe partout as a “recueil de pièces satiriques, dirigées pour la plupart contre la clergé”, with the Jesuites du College de Louis le Grand and Louis XIV's great general, the Maréchal de Villars singled out for special attention. The anonymous author satirically describes himself as “Chevalier de l’Ordre de l’Industrie & de la Gibeciere” (‘chevalier d'industrie’ means swindler in French and ‘gibecièr’ is a gamebag or satchel), but his real identity remains a mystery. This is the second edition. A more common issue with the imprint 'la présente année' is considered variously to have been printed from 1700 to 1708. The BL catalogue suggests Holland as the place of publication for our edition. No source hazards a guess at the author.
First published in 1674, this edition of Traité de la jalousie contains a fine and detailed allegorical frontispiece juxtaposing a family with an image of adultery and an emblem of heart in a vice or press. De Courtin’s work purports to be an early self-help manual which offers practical advice on dealing with jealousy in marriage, which, as the advertisement proclaims: ‘De toutes les maladies de l’esprit, La Jalousie est assurément la plus dangereuse, & la plus difficile à guerir’. It is, in effect, a profoundly misogynistic work insisting on the subordiation of the woman, just as certain members of society must necessarily be subject to the state. Despite being described by Gay as an ‘ouvrage ennuyeux et mal ecrit’, the frequency with which the title was reprinted after its first publication in 1674 is testament to its contemporary popularity. It appeared in English as A Treatise of Jealousie, or, a Means to preserve Peace in Marriage in 1684
The final work Octavie ou l'Epouse fidelle was first published in 1683; this imprint is not dated, but other undated copies are suggested to have been published c.1700. Passe Partout: Gay, III, 659; Courton: Gay, III, 236; Chavigny: not found in Gay.