COCHIN, Charles Nicholas (illus.); DUSÉJOUR, Dionis.

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The Origin of the Graces. A unique copy of the first edition in English: the only one with hand-coloured illustrations, as stated by the publishers on the colophon. Using the plates of the original 1777 French version, this finely printed translation was produced in a run of 1,250 numbered copies. The work, which imitates a Greek pastoral poem, was an uncontroversial choice of text for Vizetelly & Co. Specializing in English editions of French and Russian novelists, their output often scandalized Victorian England, leading to Henry Vizetelly's prosecution for his editions of Zola.Provenance: Alexander Van Rensselaer (1850-1933), with his bookplate on the verso of the front free endpaper. A member of the prominent American family, Alexander and his wife Sarah (née Drexel) were patrons of the arts in Philadelphia and closely tied to Princeton and Drexel Universities. Alexander donated a copy of Audubon's Birds of America to the former's library. On the verso of the frontispiece is a Christmas gift inscription dated 1930 to Van Rensselaer's sister-in-law, Mary Irick Drexel (1864-1948), another local philanthropist who endowed a library to her birthplace of Vincentown, New Jersey.

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