Essais sur la Literature Française. Ouvrage Elementaire. [A l'usage d'une dame étragère, compatriote de l'auteur.] 1er Cahier [-6em Cahier, 2 de la 2em partie].

Bookseller Notes

Possibly authorial, given the occasional corrections to the text, which is a not entirely complete version of the 1815 publication - from which the dedication, as above, is derived. The ODNB article on Craufurd dwells mostly on Craufurd's career in India (and large accumulation of wealth thereby), and his intimate connections with the French royal court in the years leading up to, including, and subsequent to, the Revolution, but concludes: 'No account of Quintin Craufurd would be complete without a mention of his writings. He had produced his Sketches chiefly relating to the history, religion, learning and manners of the Hindoos, with a concise account of the present state of the native powers of Hindostan in London in 1790, and he reverted to the subject of India towards the end of his life with his Researches Concerning the Laws, Theology, Learning, Commerce, etc. of Ancient and Modern India, published in two volumes in 1817. It was during his stay in Vienna and under the influence of Snac de Meilhan that his literary talents developed. He wrote in French, and his Essais sur la littrature franaise, which he published in Paris in 1803, were a paean to that language, which he regarded as the most concise of all.' The 1803 edition was privately printed for friends, the regular edition, much expanded and extending to 3 volumes, was published in 1815.The present volume does not comprise the entire text. There are no preliminaries (Dedication &c), and it finishes about halfway through the third volume, in the middle of the Essai on Jean-Jacques Rousseau.After Craufurd's death, his widow auctioned his library, and art collections, whence this MS may derive.