A New French Dictionary; To Which is Prefixed a French Grammar, by Thomas Deletanville, 1771

First edition of Thomas Deletanville’s A New French Dictionary (London: J. Nourse and P. Vaillant, 1771), a substantial bilingual work combining French-English and English-French sections, prefaced by a concise grammar of the French language. Intended for practical use at a time when French was the language of diplomacy and polite culture, Deletanville’s dictionary became one of the standard references of the later 18th century.

A New French Dictionary, In Two Parts: The First, French and English; The Second, English and French...To Which is Prefixed a French Grammar, Shewing how to form the Regular Parts of Speech. By Thomas Deletanville.

Published by J. Nourse and P. Vaillant, London, 1771, first edition. Now a rather scarce edition. Both parts of the dictionary are bound as one volume.

A very good hardback in full contemporary calf leather, with raised bands and gilt decoration to spine. Leather is rubbed, scuffed and worn, but all soundly bound. Some offsetting and wear to endpapers.

Text pages are very good throughout with only mild age-toning and a few occasional age spots, but a nicely presented copy. Some spotting just before Part 2, but not affecting legibility. With red toned text block edges, as issued. There are a few loose pressed plant leaves in the volume, which we have left in situ.

Text in English/French.

Only the introductory pages are numbered as xx. This section is followed by hundreds of unnumbered pages for both parts of the book.

Dimensions:

Approximately 206mm high x 142mm wide x 68mm deep.

Weight approximately 1150g unpacked.