Rouge et Noir: The Academicians of 1823; or The Greeks of The Palais Royal, and the Clubs of St. James

London: Lawler and Quick, 1823. First Edition. Octavo. 20cm. Publisher's original blue linen spine, over pasteboard, with a paper title label to spine. 456pp. [pages 311-438, excised due to libellous content]. Bumping to corners, most noticeable to the lower front, some sunning of the spine cloth, soiling, and a small cosmetic split to the tail of the spine, strong and tight; internally clean, with the bookplate of Sir Joseph Pullen, Baronet, to the front pastedown, edges untrimmed, hand colored frontispiece of dissolute rakes playing roulette, rear endpapers with tear to lower corner. A very good, solid copy in original publisher's boards.

(truncated) A searing, and at the time controversial, indictment of the excesses of gaming and gambling in Regency London. One of the few periods in British history when social standing was simultaneously highly defined to the most ridiculous degrees, but also in certain spheres, without physical boundary. One of the driving forces for this blurring of the lines was sport, with boxing and gaming in particular being drivers for the nobility to mix with and appreciate the skills of, the lower orders. It was at the same time expected of the aristocracy to rub shoulders with prize fighters, jockeys, and their ilk in cockpits and the yards of coaching inns, whilst also being decried as symptomatic of a decay in the standard of the aristocratic product. Gambling, often to excess, was seen as a pre-requisite of nobility, and to be taught to fence by Angelo, or stand a couple of rounds in the ring with a Cribb or a Mendoza, were vied for honors amongst the smart set. The first requirement of a gentleman was fearlessness, the second to take a loss carelessly on the chin - paying one's bills ranked rather lower down the scale. Dunne's intent was to name and shame the major practitioners of the worst gaming sins; the ruination of younger men dragged into debt by peer pressure and criminal manipulation, and the exploitation of them by older, more dissolute, and less well off members of their own class of which there were legion. The book was significantly visible among its targets to warrant suppression of the chapter in which Dunne named names and pointed fingers; opinions differ among collectors as to the relative rarity of suppressed vs. unsuppressed, with the general opinion being that the lawyers were a little slow and significant enough copies slipped through as to make scarcity a moot point. (Inventory #: 84803)