Entretien sur Le Havre. by LE MASSON LE GOLFT, [Marie].

Small 8vo (140 × 80 mm), pp. viii, 171, [5] (complete with half-title, approbation and privilège). Contemporary mottled sheep, gilt panelled spine, red morocco label, old printed shelf mark pasted at foot. Rubbed, corners just a little worn. A very good copy.

First edition of the the first book published by a notable French female scholar, who became celebrated as a naturalist and one of the first women elected to a scientific academy in France. The book is a historical and cultural study of her native city, presented as a dialogue between herself and a scholar, and was dedicated to the écoliers of the Collège du Havre. Trade and commerce are at the forefront, but the city’s literary heritage is celebrated, notably in the persons of Madame de Scudèry (born in Le Havre) and Madame de Lafayette (whose father was a city governor). Her own teacher, the astronomer and naturalist Jean-François Dicquemare is also considered,

As one of the primary gateways of France, Le Havre participated in many of the country’s most significant exploits, including the transatlantic slave trade. In the Entretien, mademoiselle Le Masson Le Golft recounts a conversation on the slave trade. Her student, referring to a visit aboard a slave ship, tells her the impression made on him by the iron shackles on board, and asks: ‘Comment, me suis-je de en moi-même, avec des moeurs si douces, tant de lumières & de philosophie, la cupidité peut-elle nous porter à étendre cette tache sur notre siècle?’. His teacher is equivocal, saying she underrstands but that his regrets are useless and they will discuss this at greater leisure. While Le Masson Le Golft is usually portrayed as an opponent of slavery, her attitudes may have been ambivalent. Rare: Worldcat locates no copy outside France, even though the author’s later works are well represented in libraries.