(Religion) Languet, Jean. Traite de la Confiance… Brusselle, 1720. 18mo (4 by 6.5 inches), full mottled calf, gilt decorated spines in 6 compartments.

Early Edition, engraved frontispiece with bottom section of page covered with black ink, 272 pages. Good condition.

Date Acquired: 8/1/14

As with my previous post, this book was purchased at the same bookseller, Wessel and Lieberman, on the exact same date too. I got this book as well, because it was 40% off and it would be the oldest book in my collection, eclipsing my collection of Voltaire’s works (1785), which I will cover in a later post.

What stood out to me about this book was, for one, its remarkable condition, both end boards were attached and the spine still has some of the gilding left. Secondly was its size, it is a really small book, and it was hidden, pushed back in one of the bookshelves, so I grabbed it, and it is in my collection.

The book is in French, as the title and author suggests, and I am unable to read it, as of yet. I am trying to find time to learn French because for my book collecting habits, French History and religion in France is a huge interest to me. As well as the fact that French is an old language, which almost sets no limits to the age a book can have, as opposed to English, for example.

The spine of the book is in remarkable condition, as it still contains a good part of the gilt designs on it, the title on the spine is worn away, but the imprint is still visible, barely. (I cannot take a picture of it) It’s a marvelously pretty book, which I can hope to read someday soon.

The title translates to “Treatise on the Belief and Graciousness in God, an addition to a Treatise of False Happiness of the People of the Word and the True Happiness of the Christian Life”, making it a religious novel. The author Jean-Joseph Languet de Gergy was a French theologian who lived from the 25th of August 1677 to the 11th of May 1753, here is more information on the author.

The date reads M.DCCXX, which is 1720, as I said earlier, eclipsing my Voltaire works by 65 years. Common to most religious books at the time, there is a religious engraving on the frontispiece, which are all done in a similar style.

It will take a while for me to encounter a book older than this one at a reasonable price, old books exist, but I am not going to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars. It’s not difficult to collect old books, it just takes patience and a good eye, and hopefully a sale or two!