[KAMASUTRA]. - Lot 34

  2. Result
  3. [KAMASUTRA]. - Lot 34
  4. Lot n° 34 
Lot n° 34
Go to lot
Estimation :
3000 - 3500 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 3 584EUR
[KAMASUTRA]. - Lot 34
[KAMASUTRA]. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. Part I [-4]. Benares, printed for the Hindu Kama Shastra Society in 1883. For private circulation only. French translation of the Kamasutra. In French, manuscript on paper. India, Benares (?), various dates: 1885-17 July 1889 (the 1883 date refers to the edition of the English translation on which this translation is based). 184 ff, followed by 3ff. of paper endpapers, cursive writing in black ink. Bound in green percaline, smooth spine decorated, title gilt. Modern binding. Unpaginated text. Neat writing. English watermarked paper. Some drawings, cul-de-lamp, in black ink. Dimensions : 230 x 175 mmSignature of "V. Guinaud" and date of July 17, 1889 at the end of the manuscript. This manuscript contains the French translation of the Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, taken from the English version of Burton of 1883. Text copied with corrections, in the margin or directly in the text by another hand. We note this important remark: "It is worth noting for the bibliophile that this second part contains no pagination in the English edition, Benares, 1883, which was used for the present translation. [Signed] E.L.". Some remarks on Liseux, in the margin, such as: "Liseux has omitted this". Corrections in pencil and ink are present in the text as well as numerous remarks on the back of the text. These remarks concern the translation of English words into French. The author refers to certain writings of authors such as: the Countess of Choiseul, Balzac, Liseux, Molière and Béranger, Elie Reclus, Jules Guyot, Bréviaire de l'amour expérimental. It is thus another French translation, made shortly after that of Isidore Liseux (1835-1894), considered as the first French translation in 1885, also established from the English edition of Richard Burton (1883), with the collaboration of Alcide Bonneau (1836-1904), his friend and collaborator, who directed for the account of Isidore Liseux, a collection of erotic books between 1876 and 1893. He supplied him with numerous manuscripts, edited, translated and commented about fifty erotic works. The Kama sutra was translated for the first time from Sanskrit into English in 1883 by Richard Francis Burton, whose circulation was allowed in England only in 1963. The "Kama Shastra Society" was founded in 1882 by Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) and Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot (1833-1901) is presented as a secret society. It published numerous writings whose content was scholarly and erotic. Their goal was to enlighten the English and to circumvent the law of the time (law of 1857) which prohibited literature considered obscene. The two authors defied the British law by publishing the Kama Sutra in private distribution only. Provenance: Jean-Claude Carrière (1931-2021), writer, screenwriter, lyricist, actor, director, for cinema, theater and television. He is also a great connoisseur of India since his collaboration with Peter Brook on the Mahâbbârata in 1985.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue