BOUND IN BEAR FUR: 1722 ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF A 1689 SERMON ON CUCKOLDOM

A Sermon Preached by a French Hugonot [sic] Teacher to his congregation in 1689 in praise of Cuckoldom. Printed at Cologne in French, and now translated into English, for the consolation of all English cuckolds

24 pp. 12mo, London: printed, and sold by T. Warner, at the Sign of the Black-Boy in Pater-Noster-Row, 1722. First edition in English of this amusing “back-handed condemnation” of cuckold-making. Twentieth-century full brown bear skin with the fur still on, marbled endpapers by John Field. Faint foxing to text, fur binding fine.

The cuckold plays his part in the stereotypical imagery of 18th-century frivolity—connected to the realm of erotic conspiracy and license. “Our wives are lovely,”acknowledges the author, “why should they not be beloved?… We live in an age where men sell their consciences for a bribe, why should not we then sell our wives’ favors for good posts and precious things?… Let us discretely wink at their stealths.” “Offering insight into the mentality of the public as they engaged in loose morality and cuckold-making, this piece is perhaps the most compelling evidence of back-handed condemnation. It includes the wife’s perspective and moral justification for her behavior. These justifications, though, seem trivial [to the modern reader] and show themselves to be mere attempts at pacifying the cuckold’s guilty conscience” (Ryan Gritter) ESTC T89694.

Item #248693       Price: $750.00