The Confessions:

London: printed for J. Bew,, 1783. A milestone of modern autobiography First edition in English of the first six books of the Confessions and of the Reveries; both were first published in French in Geneva the previous year. Rousseau's Confessions is one of the most influential autobiographies in the history of European literature, which virtually created the genre as we know it today. Modelled on the work of the same title by St. Augustine, it recounts his story "with vivid minuteness, setting forth all the incidents of an agitated life, his reaction to them, and his spiritual development while concealing nothing to his discredit, even the meanest actions and sexual abnormalities" (Oxford Companion to English Literature, p. 160). The Reveries of a Solitary Walker is Rousseau's last work, left unfinished, a collection of the author's reflections occasioned by a series of walks around Paris during the final years of his life. A further six books of the Confessions were published in French in 1789 and in English in 1790. Provenance: with ownership signature to the title page of vol. I of "Mary Bishopp 1795", and her bookplate with handwritten monogram "MB" to both title page versos; bookplate to the front pastedowns of the leading British book collector Eric Quayle, and his note on the first bookplate: "This is the first English edition and is very rare E.Q.". Quayle published large-format and well-illustrated guides to book collecting, based on his own collection, which still act as signposts for new collectors, and important references for the experienced. Two volumes, duodecimo (171 x 99 mm). Twentieth-century panelled calf to style, red morocco labels. Very light sunning to spines, title pages a little toned else contents clean. A very good copy. ESTC T136470. P. Harvey & J. E. Heseltine, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 1959.