Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Published in 1782, this epistolary novel follows two French aristocrats, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil, as they use seduction as a private war. Merteuil urges Valmont to corrupt the convent-bred Cecile Volanges; Valmont prefers the harder prize of the devout Madame de Tourvel, even while remaining bound to Merteuil by rivalry and old intimacy. Letters among the pair, their targets, Cecile's mother, and the chevalier Danceny show how reputation, piety, and desire are managed as instruments. The setting is pre-revolutionary salon and country-house society. The book is a study of intrigue and power conducted entirely in correspondence.

Bound in gilt image blocked purple, crinkled silk. Gold endleaves. Gold slipcase.