Transcriber’s note
Variable spelling and hyphenation have been retained. Minor punctuationinconsistencies have been silently repaired. A list of the changes madecan be found at the end of the book.
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES Vol. I
No. 200 of 360 Copies
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
OR
LETTERS COLLECTED IN A PRIVATE SOCIETY
AND PUBLISHED FOR THE INSTRUCTION
OF OTHERS
BY
CHODERLOS DE LACLOS
TRANSLATED BY
ERNEST DOWSON
Vol. I
LONDON
PRIVATELY PRINTED
1898
(A.D. 1898)
Choderlos de Laclos was the Gallic Richardson of theXVIIIth Century; and he might more justly than Stendhalbe called the father of French realism. With inimitablewit and the finest analysis of character he depicted thecorrupt society of his day. His aim was excellent, butin his endeavour to point his moral he painted the vicewhich he wished to flagellate in colours so glowing thathe appears more an advocate than an opponent ofimmorality. In his attempt to pourtray the wiles of theseducer for a warning to the unwary, the author of the“Liaisons Dangereuses” produced the most completemanual of the art of seduction; so that during the austerereign of Charles X. this masterpiece was suppressed asthrowing too lurid a reflection on the manners and moralsof the old régime. “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” is nowfor the first time literally and completely translated intoEnglish by Mr. Ernest Dowson, whose rendering of“La Terre,” in the Lutetian Society’s issue of Zola, gainedsuch a warm meed of praise.
To render this edition of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses”[vi]worthy of its fame as one of the chefs-d’œuvre of Literature,it is illustrated with fine photogravure reproductions ofthe whole of the 15 charming designs by Monnet, Fragonardfils, and Gérard, which appeared in the much covetedFrench edition of 1796, and which are full of thatinexpressible grace and beauty inseparable from the workof these Masters of French Art of the XVIIIth Century.
We think it our duty to warn the public that, in spiteof the title of this work and of w