Antique book published in Amsterdam during the year MDCCLXXXIV (1784). 

Illustrated with 2 nicely engraved plates.

Hardcover binding. Leather spine. Text in french.

374 pages, 20 x 12.5 x 2.5 cm.

Good condition in general (holes on the inner margin of some leaves at the beginning of the book, as well as on few leaves' inner margin at the book's end not affecting text in any case, merely worn binding where scratches, rubbed/discolored/splotchy parts, cracks near spine, holes, fragile parts, tears/creases/cracks & pieces of paper unmounted from boards' edges, foxing, yellow/brown stains, creases, minor piece of paper missing from few leaves' corners/margin not affecting text though).

Shipping costs via registered mail (tracking number provided): $25.

Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles (1 April 1697 – 25 November 1763), usually known simply as the Abbé Prévost, was a French priest, author, and novelist. 

Prévost’s roman à clef is based on a true story involving the French ambassador to the Ottoman Porte from 1699 to 1711. It is narrated from the ambassador’s viewpoint and is a model of subjective, unreliable narration (long before Henry James). It is remarkably modern in its presentation of an enigmatic, ambiguous character, as the truth about the heroine can never be established with certainty. It is the story of the tormented relationship between the diplomat and a beautiful young Greek concubine, Théophé, whom he frees from a pasha’s harem. While her benefactor becomes increasingly infatuated with her and bent on becoming her lover, the Greek girl becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a virtuous and respected woman. Viewing the ambassador as a father figure, she condemns his quasi-incestuous passion and firmly rejects his repeated seduction attempts. Unable to possess the young woman or tolerate the thought that she might grant to someone else what she has refused him, the narrator subjects her behavior to minute scrutiny in an effort to catch her in an indiscretion. His investigations are fruitless, however, and Théophé, the victim of incessant persecution, simply dies, leaving all the questions about her behavior unanswered. [Penn State University Press]