Lettres grecques, ... ou anecdotes sur les moeurs et les usages de la Grèce. Traduites pour la première fois en françois, avec des notes historiques & critiques ...

Amsterdam et Paris, Nyon, 1784-85. 3 volumes 8° (172x104 mm). XXVIII, 366, [2]; 294, [2]; 305, [2] pp. Contemporary calf, spine gilt. Front cover of vol. II and rear cover of vol. III with some worming.

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Probably inspired by Lucian's Dialogues of the Courtesans, Alciphron wrote a collection of fictional letters, of which 124 (118 complete and 6 fragmentary) have been published. They are written in the purest Attic dialect and are regarded as models of style. The fictitious authors are Attic fishermen, peasants, parasites and hetaeras. The work thus provides an insight into Greek life of the time and is thus a valuable source for knowledge of Greek private life. His letters were repeatedly based on characters from the comedies of Menandros. The 'fairly accurate translation' (Quérard) into French is by abbé Jérôme Richard. Comtesse Marianne de Kinsky (* 1854), ms. owner's entry on endleaf and Franz von Pollack-Parnau (1903-2002), bookplate. Schweiger I, 21; Quérard, La France littéraire I, 24-25.