12mo. [28], 175, [1]; 210pp. With an additional engraved title page. Contemporary calf, tooled in gilt and blind. Rubbed, upper joint starting, slight loss to foot of spine. Later armorial bookplate of Beilby Thompson to FEP, recent bookplate of Robert J. Hayhurst to recto of FFEP.

An early edition of Madeleine de Scudéry's (1607-1701) impassioned rehabilitation of the précieuses literary movement - of which she was the primary apologist - composed in response to Molière's scornful satirisation of popular style in his single-act comedy of manners Les Précieuses ridicules (1659).

Beilby Thompson (1742-1799), Landowner, politician, and a member of the St. Alban's Tavern group, an informal association of 78 British Members of Parliament who aimed to bring about a reconciliation of William Pitt the Younger and Charles James Fox in a unified Ministry.