[BOOKS ON THE MOON]. Les Avantures de Pomponius chevalier Romain, ou l’Histoire de notre Tems

Rome (i.e. Holland?): Chez les Heritiers de Ferrante Pallavicini [ficticious imprint], 1725. Good. 12mo. Collation: [pi]12 A-I12, COMPLETE. [12], 216 pp. Contemporary calf, spine and extremities worn, lower joints starting, tail chipped, even toning throughout, minor staining, front endleaf becoming detached. In "good" (not in "very good") contemporary but complete, well used, and bearing substantive contemporary annotations. A STRANGE AND MARVELOUS UTOPIAN / LIBERTINE NOVEL -- NOW ALMOST COMPLETELY UNKNOWN -- WHICH IS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IN THAT IT CONTAINS DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS FOUND ON THE MOON.

NOT IN REID BYER'S "IMAGINARY BOOKS: LOST, UNIFINISHED, AND FICTIVE WORKS FOUND ONLY IN OTHER BOOKS" (2025).

OUR COPY BEARS CONTEMPORARY MANUSCRIPT ANNOTATIONS THAT GIVE A "KEY" TO THE ACTUAL IDENTITIES OF THE NOVEL'S VARIOUS CHARACTERS TO WHOM WERE ASSIGNED FAKE NAMES. Some of the names given by the author were formed by anagrammatized or jumbled letters, others were allegorical, allusive or merely imaginary.

We are fascinated by the character of the Library-Keeper on the Moon (one Samar) who compiled a 500-volume catalogue of all the books that will ever be printed. Upon arriving on the Moon, Pomponius and his Roman travelers discover "the most extraordinary Library that can be imagined, for it contains all the Books that have been, or will be written on Earth, with the names of their true Authors." Chapter XVI introduces the Library-Keeper, who then figures prominently throughout the novel. The reader is given further information about this marvelous Lunar Library, which is forty miles in length and five miles in breadth. The shelves are all packed full and are said to be "very magnificent." The books are placed according to the time when they were (or will be) published.

¶ Through chapters XVII-XVIII the Library-Keeper imparts much information about the books on the Moon; in chapter XIX we find "A Catalogue of some Books in the Library of the Moon." Chapter XXII concerns the Manuscripts and Numismatics in the Library of the Moon. Among the ficticious titles given are: 1). Traité de l'amour du bien public, par le duc d'Antin, a M. le duc de Noailles. 2). Traite de l'extreme ennui, de l'indifference forcee, par Mme de Rupermonde, dedie a la Marechale d'Estrees. 3). Traite du respect que l'on doit aux princes du Sang, par M. le chevalier de Rohan, dedie a M. le duc de Richelieu. 4). Histoire generale de la police et de ses progres, par M. d'Argenson fils, dedie a M. le garde des Sceaux. 5). Discussions historiques sur les richesses de la compagnie des Indes et de son commerce fleurissant dans les quatre parties du monde, avec le denombrement de ses comptoirs le long du fleuve du Mississipi, par M. Crozat, dedie a M. le marechal d'Estrees, etc.

¶ Although published anonymously, it is believed that the novel was written by one Dom Labadie, a lay monk of Saint-Maur (Querard, V, 330, rejects the claim that Guy Alexis Lobineau was the author). The work was certainly it was revised and edited by the Abbe Prevost, and represents the first published literary effort of the author of "Manon Lescaut" (1731).

Disguised behind this fantasy is an extremely bitter satire on the libertine Regent Phillipe II, duc d'Orleans (1674-1723), herein named "Relosan," who was clearly hated by the present author (as were the Jesuits). Dom Labadie devotes long passages to lunar "pucelage" (virginity) and the "wealth" of female virgins on the moon (hence the book's inclusion on the Index, for which see Peignot, Dictionnaire [...] des livres condamnés au feu II, p. 209).

¶ Multiple editions of the work were issued under the fake "Rome" imprint of Les Heritiers de Ferrante Pallavicini. Later editions were augmented by a collection of pieces concerning the minority of Louis XV, not present here.

PROVENANCE: -- pasted slip of "Duchemin" (or "Du Chemin") tipped on verso of front flyleaf. -- Loosely inserted is a clipped description from an old French catalogue.

LITERATURE: Surely the earliest detailed description of this book was given in 1738 (!) in Jacob le Duchat's (posthumous) Ducatiana ou Remarques de feu M. Le Duchat (I, pp. 106-110, as referenced on the title-page of our copy in MS; NB: we have not collated our MS "key" with the one given by Duchat but it would be interesting to do so). Gay I, 319. Drujon, Les livres a clef, vol. 1 pp. 111-113. Bibliotheca Arcana: Seu, Catalogus Librorum Penetralium no. 495. Jones pp. 36-37. Antoine Laporte, Bibliographie Clérico-Galante p. 103. Pia, Dictionnaire des Oeuvres érotiques: "Ce petit roman est une exaltation de l'amour des corps" (!). (Inventory #: 4406)