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Tropes or different senses in which we can take the same word in the same language
Paris: at David's, 1757
Contemporary calfskin binding
“Everything deserves to be read in the Traite des Tropes,” says D’Alembert, “even the errata; it contains reflections on our orthography, on its quirks, its inconsistencies and its variations. We see in these reflections a judicious writer, equally far from superstitiously respecting usage and from colliding in everything for an impracticable reform. »
Des tropes went unnoticed when first published in 1730, and the second edition of 1757 was no more successful. Dumarsais himself said that someone, wanting to pay him a compliment one day, told him that he had just heard a lot of good things said about his Traite des Tropes, taking tropes for… a name of the people. However, the work became famous at the turn of the century.
The author first exposes what constitutes figurative style, and shows how ordinary this style is, both in writings and in conversation; he details the use of tropes in speech, supporting his observations with fortunately chosen examples.
Missing head cover, lack of leather and small holes in the jaws, rubbed corners, discoloration on the top cover. Foxing, a few stains, one of which, more important, hides some letters on p. 65, angular wetting to a notebook, notes in pencil and ink. 67459071
