[PIRON, Alexis]. Ode à Priape.

(Paris): No printing, c. 1920.  Later edition.  5.5cm by 4.8cm. pp. [1], 20, [4], plus hand-coloured engraved plates. A miniature pornobibliographical mystery — a French edition of the well-known eighteenth-century libertine ode to the Greek god of the penis, dressed up as an Oxford miniature Book of Common Prayer in a silver slipcase. The edition was published in Paris in an edition of just 200 copies around the year 1920 (according to Dutel, who places it in the third volume of his bibliography covering the years 1920-1970), with a series of erotic plates, attributed by Dutel to André Collot (1897-1976). It has clearly then been bound in England in a style typical of Edwardian miniature prayer books, in flexible roan with rounded forecorners, and spine labelled ‘Oxford’, with a matching silver slipcase. The latter has a chain and ring that allows it to be held on the finger and clutched in the hand, again a style rather typical of prayer books given as gifts. The silver is hallmarked London 1913 suggesting that Dutel maybe incorrect in his dating, we additionally are not convinced that the illustrator is actually Andre Collot (who would of been 16 in 1913).  The Ode à Priape was never intended for public circulation. Piron wrote it in 1710 aged just 21 for private amusement and the salon culture of libertine circles. a classical-style ode, addressed to Priapus, the Roman god of fertility, gardens, and virility, often depicted with an exaggerated phallus. Piron uses this mythological framework to deliver a bold, erotic, and comically irreverent poem that both mocks religious and literary conventions.  The poem is written in Alexandrine verse (twelve-syllable lines typical of French classical poetry). Though brief, the work is admired for its craftsmanship, dense with double entendres, mythological references, and poetic flair.  Its existence haunted Piron decades later. When he was nominated for admission to the prestigious Académie Française in 1753, his opponents dug up the Ode, and it was used to block his election on moral grounds.  A very good copy in contemporary limp roan, upper cover lettered ‘Common Prayer’ spine lettered ‘Common Prayer. Oxford’, rounded forecorners. Sterling silver slipcase (hallmarked London, 1913), with large engraved monogram (’EJBB’), with original chain and ring.  Dutel, Bibliographie des Ouvrages Érotiques publiés clandestinement en Français entre 1920 et 1970, No. 2075. No copies located in WolrdCat.