Zuleika et Sélim, ou la Vierge D'Abydos; par Lord Byron:

£8,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Rare - THE FIRST COMPLETE TRANSLATION OF A BYRON POEM INTO FRENCH. OCLC records British Library , Cambridge ; New York Public Library and BnF only. NO COPIES RECORDED IN RARE BOOK HUB. First published in London in 1813 as The Bride of Abydos: A Turkish Tale. A very fine copy of the first complete poetical work by Byron to be translated into French. This remarkable prose translation was undertaken by Léon Thiessé in order to introduce French readers to “les chefs-d’oeuvre dont nos voisins s’enorgueillissent avec raison.” In the detailed translators notes at the end of the volume Thiessé translates into French and re-prints in English Byron’s Fare Thee Well (Adieu à Toi!) , his infamous poem on the dissolution of his marriage to Annabella Milbanke which had been privately printed in London in in the same year. This is not only a rare translation of two important works by Byron but a vital piece of evidence for the reception of Byron in Europe, the fashioning of the Byronic cult of celebrity and, more generally, a key statement on the relationship between English and French literary tastes in the period. The Bride of Abydos was the foundational work that “defined and perfected the Byronic hero…usually an aristocrat—embodied a culturally alienated anti-hero, bearing within a dark secret that seemed as threatening to others as to himself.” ( ODNB ). The success of this poem and his other “oriental” tales made Byron an unprecedented literary celebrity across Europe. A few excerpts

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.