- STERNE (Lawrence). Sentimental journey in France. Dijon, Imprimerie de L. N. Frantin, 1797, 2 parts in one volume in-16, [2] ff. (false title and title), 251 pp, [2] ff. n. e., 243 pp, one f. n. e. of table, marbled havana calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, dotted and hatched lines, cherry title-piece, framed with a simple cold fillet on the boards, gilt hatched lines on the edges, edges speckled with red (period binding). Minor spotting. Copy reprinted in 8° format, with full margins, on fine paper. Since its first publication in February 1768, at the London address (when the author died in March of the same year), there have been countless editions of this little novel which had a considerable literary influence. Indeed, it quickly enjoyed great success and helped to make the travelogue one of the dominant genres of the second half of the 18th century. In contrast to the earlier accounts, which were mainly concerned with objective knowledge, Le Voyage sentimental emphasizes a subjective approach to personal tastes and feelings, manners and customs, beyond classical knowledge. During the 1770s, women writers began to publish a significant number of sentimental travelogues. The "sentimental" style became a favorite mode of expression for non-official literature and even for political radicalism. The narrator is the Reverend Yorick, who is, even for the candid reader, a thinly disguised alter ego of the author. The book recounts his adventures, most of them amorous, in a series of small, distinct scenes. The book is less eccentric and more elegant in style than Tristram Shandy and was more favourably received in England. The Dijon publisher Frantin, a bibliophile, remained known for his careful editions of literary texts for which he did not hesitate to print copies on large paper, as our work testifies. A good copy from the library of the poet and publisher (Editions de Minuit) Georges Hugnet, with his ex libris with motto on the first endpaper.