POELLNITZ, Baron de] - La Saxe galante. Amsterdam, Aux dépen - Lot 323

POELLNITZ, Baron de] - La Saxe galante. Amsterdam, Aux dépens de la Compagnie, 1734. in-12, (1) f., 416 pp, title in red, inscription on title page, stamp of the Stahremberg bibl. on flyleaf, half calf with corners, ornate smooth spine. GAY III, 1078. JONES 54. First edition of a scandalous novel that was reprinted several times. This work by Baron de Poellnitz is a most audacious plagiarism. It is none other than Mme de La Fayette's charming novel The Princess of Cleves, which Baron de Poellnitz has put under his own name, simply changing the names of the characters and the location of the action. As for the sentences and style, he has not even bothered to disguise them. According to a note by Paulmy (Bibliothèque de Marie-Antoinette à Trianon, p. 44) and the Bulletin du bouquiniste, eleventh year, p. 107, this very pleasant and amusing novel is the fruit of the youth of the Chevalier de Solignac, who witnessed most of the adventures he recounts. It is in fact a daring glorification of the amorous liaisons of the late Frederick-Augustus I of Saxony, King of Poland in 1697.