Recueil des Poésies de Monsieur B.

(Geneva): Les Frères Cramer, 1756.  First edition.  Hardcover.  19.6cm by 12.4cm.  iv, 120 pages.  First and only edition of this rare and highly curious collection of libertine verse, published anonymously but attributed by some bibliographers to the elusive “Comte de B***.” The Recueil gathers odes, idylls, eclogues, and cantatas steeped in the erotic wit and classical allusion that typified the clandestine literary circles of mid-18th century France.  The poetry is unabashedly sensual—replete with pastoral allegory, mythological innuendo, and refined obscenity—evoking a world of libertine fantasy where shepherds and nymphs engage in amorous escapades beneath the guise of Arcadian decorum. While delicately phrased, the work’s explicit thematic core leaves little to the imagination, earning it a place among the more daring poetic productions of its time.  Published in Geneva but almost certainly intended for discreet circulation within the salons and private libraries of Parisian connoisseurs.  A good copy in contemporary contemporary mottled calf, spine richly gilt in compartments with red morocco label, marbled endpapers, edges red but faded. A little rubbed and worn at edges, corners and spine head, still a presentable copy of this notable example of 18th-century French libertine literature.  WorldCat locates just five copies and only one in the US (Indiana University).