Lot 25: Madame de Scuddery's roman-a-clef Clelie, with the famous "Carte de Tendre"

SCUDÉRY, [MADELEINE DE]

Clelie, ou Histoire Romaine. Paris and Amsterdam: Augustin Courbe and Jean Blaeu, 1656-1661. 5 parts in 10 volumes, early editions, with mixed dates and imprints as is customary with this set, volume I with tipped in manuscript letter signed by Alexandre d'Aumont Duc de Villequier. Contemporary speckled calf, gilt armorial to boards, gilt lettered and decorated spines, edges marbled or speckled red. 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches (17 x 10.75 cm); Volume I, [11], 1-604 pp., with 3 engraved plates and the folding "Carte de Tendre;" Volume II, [2], 605-1443, [4] pp., with 1 engraved plate; Volume III, [2], 1-630, with 2 engraved plates; Volume IV, [2], 609-1481, [4] pp., with 2 engraved plates; Volume V, [2], 1-604 pp., with 2 engraved plates; Volume VI, [2], 607-1604, [7] pp., with 1 engraved plate; Volume VII, [2], 1-614 pp., with 2 engraved plates; Volume VIII: [2], 617- 1464, [7] pp., with 1 engraved plate; Volume IX, [2], 1-544p., with 1 engraved plate; Volume X, [2], 545-1324, [7], with 2 engraved plates. Some rubbing and wear to bindings, skillfully rebacked, some joints starting or cracked but all volumes sound, contents with occasional spots and toning, a few marginal tears and small losses, early manuscript annotations (mostly in Volume IX), the "Carte de Tendre" is spotted with creasing and a closed tear, armorial of Paul-Hippolyte de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan, an old library stamp in most volumes, volume IX signed by a Mr. Gontier, bookplate of Rene Philipon in all volumes.

Copies of Madeleine de Scudéry's (1607-1701) influential and voluminous roman-à-clef Clelie are rarely seen at auction, and the set is even scarcer with the influential "Carte de Tendre" present. De Scudéry was a prominent French author, the doyenne of her own salon, the Société du Samedi, and one of the central figures of the group of French women intellectuals known as Les Precieuses. Her writings present a radical social vision for women that combines the praise of courtly etiquette and feminine elegance with demands for gender equality. The rare "Carte de Tendre," designed by de Scudéry and attributed to the engraver François Chauveau, is the earliest and most influential allegorical map of love ever printed. It shows an imaginary land called Tendre, where one begins in the village of "Nouvelle Amitie", and then travels up the river "Inclination," avoiding the various pitfalls such as the bad towns of "Indiscretion" and "Orgueil", to arrive at any number of the good towns like "Obeissance," "Respect," or "Contstante Amitie." The map preaches that a strategy of controlled patience, faithfulness, and attention will lead to success in love. Alternately, the dangers on either edge of the map, where there is the "Mer Dangereuse" and the "Lac d'Indifference," show that extreme passion or its opposite, indifference, are the surest ways to fail.