Fontenelle's Diaglogues of the Dead in Three Parts

London: Jacob Tonson Within Grays-Inn Gate , 1708. Hardcover, decorative calf binding, 6 compartments on spine delinated by raised bands, remnants of title in 2nd compartment. 1708 first edition of the John Hughes translation done prior to Dryden. Contains Dialogues of the Ancients, The Ancients with the Moderns and the Moderns, along with a reply to some remarks and a critique, call'd [sic] the Judgement of Pluto et c. and Two Original Dialogues. Truly fine engraved frontispiece. 209 pp plus 1 page of adverts at back. Bernard Le Bouvier de Fontenelle (11 February 1657 - 9 January 1757), also called Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, was a French author born in Rouen, France and died in Paris just one month before his 100th birthday. His mother was the sister of great French dramatists Pierre and Thomas Corneille. He trained in the law but gave up after one case, devoting his life to writing about philosophers and scientists, especially defending the Cartesian tradition.A noted gourmand, he attributed his longevity to eating strawberries. At ninety-two one woman wrote that he was as lively as a man of 22. When, in his late nineties he met the beautiful Mme Helvétius, he reportedly told her,"Ah Madame, if only I were eighty again!" It was by his Nouveaux Dialogues des morts (1683) that Fontenelle established a genuine claim to high literary rank. (above biographical information from the Britannica 1911 edition). This particular copy has the following issues: Both front and rear boards have become detached, both boards and backstrip show considerable wear but nothing beyond what would be expected given the book's age. Title page has a signature of the previous owner, date of ownership (1709), and two small comments that have at some point in the lifetime of this volume been covered over. Interior pages present some foxing and some disoloured areas, but nowhere do these issues mar the ability to read the text blocks. The engraving is particularly lovely - clean and fresh with no foxing save a touch along the margins. All in all, a good binding copy.. First Edition. Leather. Good.