Tan calf binding with gilt decoration and title on the spine. Gilt decorative edging on both boards.

A very clean example.

Fine edition of this important work first published in 1788.  The young Paul and Virginie, whom their mothers raise as brothers on the paradisiacal island of Mauritius (Île de France,) fall in love when they arrive at the adolescence. To avoid the consequences, Virginie’s mother sends her to Europe, and in her trip back the boat is caught in a storm, education prevents Virginie from taking off her clothes in front of the sailors, so she dies drowned. Paul dies after a short time of sorrow, as do the mothers of both youngsters. The work was an unprecedented success, being translated into several languages and strongly recommended reading for the teenagers of the time. The text is still an important part of the history of French literature. Because the violence of the emotions its an important predecessor of literary Romanticism.

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (also called Bernardin de St. Pierre) (19 January 1737, in Le Havre – 21 January 1814, in Éragny, Val-d’Oise) was a French writer and botanist. He is best known for his 1788 novel Paul et Virginie, now largely forgotten, but in the 19th century a very popular children’s book.