COXE (William) - RAMOND de CARBONNIÈRES (Louis François Elis - Lot 101

COXE (William) - RAMOND de CARBONNIÈRES (Louis François Elisabeth) baron Lettres de M. W. Coxe à M.W. Melmoth, sur l'Etat Politique, Civil et Naturel de la Suisse ; traduites de l'anglois & aug. des observations faites dans le même pays, par le traducteur (RAMOND de CARBONNIÈRES). Paris, Belin, 1781. 2 volumes In-8 : VIII, 326pp. 1f. / 348pp. 8f. Contemporary marbled fawn calf, ornate smooth spines, red title-pieces, bronze tomaisons, cold fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet on the edges, red edges. First edition of Ramond de Carbonnières' translation. The catalog is not in all copies. Reissued in 1782, 87, 90 and in English in 1802. "Ramond's free translation of the first French edition includes important notes added by the translator, which enrich this work devoted to the description of the Alps. One of the most classic Swiss travel works of the late 18th century". The Letters in our edition relate to the Voyage of 1776. Ramond's role in this work was ungrateful and secondary: he had to adapt to the chronology of the text, intersperse his observations and insert them in small type at the bottom of the page. He took full advantage of the situation, so much so that his translation and notes made him famous, and his biographers ask which was more interesting: the text or the notes!