CADALSO y VAZQUEZ, José Cartas marruecas. Barcelona Impr. de Piferrer 1796
4to. (5) ff., pp. 3-224. Contemporary vellum. Signature G in duplicate. A fine copy.
One of the most influential figures of the late 18th century (Ward, Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature). Cadalso had travelled widely in Europe to further his education. Borrowing the framework of Montesquieu's famous “Lettres Persanes,” the book contains references to bullfighting, critical comments on D. Quixote, the consequences of the love of luxury, etc. The letters first appeared in the Correo de Madrid before their publication in 1793. The extent to which such views were difficult for a Spaniard to express openly at the period is evident from the modifications editors and censors made to . . passages in their editions of Cadalso's work (Glendenning, A Literary History of Spain. The Eighteenth Century, p. 48). With the bookplate of Robert Henry Clive. Palau 39096. Not in Salvá. Aguilar Piñal II, 224.
£400
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