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1wcarter
It is hard to think of a stranger or quirkier subject for a novel than The Sofa, particularly as it was written by the Parisian Crebillon Fils in 1742. It was initially published anonymously, and its publication was banned by the emperor Louis XV.
Divided into 20 chapters, covering the activities of seven different couples, the book tells the story of an Indian prince who is magically transformed into a sofa. This sofa is sold and exchanged, moved from place to place, and the prince/sofa narrates the experiences he/it has, and the foolish or sometimes erotic activities (for what else is a sofa used for than to persue the love of one’s life) that occur on or around the sofa. In a similar vein to 1001 nights, there is usually a moral to each story, but in this case the morals are often made in reference to Parisian society at that time.
Published by the Folio Society in 1951, it came with a dust jacket (mine is very tattered as you will see in the photos below) rather than a slipcase. The dustjacket flaps have also been reproduced, and give a bit more information about the story and the FS.
There are seven etchings by the artist Robert Bonfils.
The binding is a plain pinkish red with the title in a gold cartouche on the spine, and the book is set letterpress in 12/14 point Bodoni and printed by R & R Clark, with a cloth binding by James Burn Ltd.
The book has 253 pages and is 23x15.5cm.
A delightful light-hearted read.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed at : http://www.librarything.com/topic/266300
Divided into 20 chapters, covering the activities of seven different couples, the book tells the story of an Indian prince who is magically transformed into a sofa. This sofa is sold and exchanged, moved from place to place, and the prince/sofa narrates the experiences he/it has, and the foolish or sometimes erotic activities (for what else is a sofa used for than to persue the love of one’s life) that occur on or around the sofa. In a similar vein to 1001 nights, there is usually a moral to each story, but in this case the morals are often made in reference to Parisian society at that time.
Published by the Folio Society in 1951, it came with a dust jacket (mine is very tattered as you will see in the photos below) rather than a slipcase. The dustjacket flaps have also been reproduced, and give a bit more information about the story and the FS.
There are seven etchings by the artist Robert Bonfils.
The binding is a plain pinkish red with the title in a gold cartouche on the spine, and the book is set letterpress in 12/14 point Bodoni and printed by R & R Clark, with a cloth binding by James Burn Ltd.
The book has 253 pages and is 23x15.5cm.
A delightful light-hearted read.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed at : http://www.librarything.com/topic/266300
