158. [SAINT-JOHN CRÈVE COEUR (Michel Guillaume Jean Crèvecoe - Lot 158

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Lot n° 158
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200 - 300 EUR
158. [SAINT-JOHN CRÈVE COEUR (Michel Guillaume Jean Crèvecoe - Lot 158
158. [SAINT-JOHN CRÈVE COEUR (Michel Guillaume Jean Crèvecoeur, dit)]. Lettres d'un Cultivateur Américain adressées à Wm S... on Esqr. depuis l'année 1770 jusqu'en 1786. Paris, Cuchet, 1787. 3 vol. in-8, xxxii, 478 p., [2] f. ; 438 p., [3] f. ; 592 p., [1] f., pl., marbled fawn basane, smooth spine decorated. Second edition of the translation increased by one volume (1st 1784) and first illustrated edition. The work was first published in English in 1782 by Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur (1735-1813), a gentleman from Normandy who became a farmer in America and saw his property destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The letters describe life on the American frontier, customs, education, flora and fauna, and include American English terms. Letter III, entitled "What is an American?", is particularly memorable. The book helped create an American identity in the minds of Europeans by describing a unified country rather than separate colonial regions. It celebrates the ingenuity and simplicity of the American way of life, the acceptance of religious diversity and the principles of equal opportunity and self-determination, exploring the concept of the "American Dream". The text is illustrated with 3 engraved plates by Claude Bornet (1733-1804), 3 engraved title pages, 1 folded plate depicting a bridge and 5 large folded maps. Binding awkwardly repaired in places, small worm bites on leather, corners and edges dulled, tear without missing a map, some foxing, other defects minor. (Sabin, 17495).
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