[SAINT-MARTIN (Louis-Claude)]. The Crocodile,... - Lot 74 - Ader

[SAINT-MARTIN (Louis-Claude)]. The Crocodile, or the war of good and evil, which arrived during the reign of Louis XV; an epic-magical poem in 102 songs, in which there are long journeys, without fatal accidents; a bit of love without any of its fury; great battles, without a drop of blood spilled; some instructions without the doctor's cap; and which, because it contains prose and verses, could indeed be neither in verse nor in prose. Posthumous work of a lover of hidden things. Paris : imprimerie-Librairie de Cercle-Social, An VII [1799]. - In-8, 192 x 124 : (2 ff.), 460 pp. Havana half calf, spine ribbed, gilt head (20th century binding). Uncommon original edition. This text is an "epic-magical" novel divided into 102 prose songs mixed with verse, "an allegorical fiction, which puts good and evil in the grip, and which covers, in a fairy-tale envelope, instructions and criticism whose too naked truth could have wounded scientific and literary bodies" (Gence, Notice biographique sur Louis-Claude de Saint Martin, 1824, p. 12). It is the work of the mystical philosopher and founder of the Philanthropic Society, Louis-Claude de Saint Martin (1743-1803), known as "the unknown philosopher". He inserted in this book with song 70, his Essay on Signs and Ideas which he had prepared for the Institute. Good copy in modern binding. Spine slightly faded, a few rubbings of use. Rare traces of wetness and a few scattered freckles without gravity. Provenance: Dorbon-Ainé bookstore, with its superb business card drawn and engraved by Albert Robida bound at the head.