Aphrodite. Moeurs Antiques

Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1896. First edition, standard paper, orange device printed on justification du tirage page. Illustrations de A. Calbet. 392, [2]pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Printed wrappers. Textblock toned, somewhat fragile, with spine split along a grouping or two, in glassine, with custom cloth dropbox. First edition, standard paper, orange device printed on justification du tirage page. Illustrations de A. Calbet. 392, [2]pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Inscribed on the half-title: "a Marcel Schwob / son admirateur / Pierre Louÿs". Schwob published "L'Amour" in the same year, a dialogue between courtesans of Ancient Greece, also known as Hetaire, one of (truncated) the forms of address for Aphrodite in the present work, which is published by the Mercure de France, where Schwob wrote. Schwob and Louÿs were both important Decadant and Symbolist writers, who both contributed corrections to Wilde's French manuscript of Salome. Provenence: Library of Edward Newman Horn, his sale at Parke-Bernet 1968, with the Blairhame bookplate in the case (no longer present); Library of J. Insley Blair, his sale at Parke-Bernet 1954 (Inventory #: 372392)