‎"RETIF DE LA BRETONNE, NICOLAS-EDME (+) C. F. CRAMER (translator).‎
‎Das Leben meines Vaters. 2 parts. ‎

‎Lübeck, 1780. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with four raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Old paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Vague damp-stain to upper margin, otherwise a nice and clean copy printed on good paper. (4), 220, 192 pp.‎

Reference : 62012

‎Exceedingly rare German translation, published the same year as the first German translation (Berlin, 1780) and published the year after the original French (La Vie de mon Père), of Bretonne’s – according to himself - most valuable work he ever produced. It stands out as one of the most vivid and faithful portrayals of peasant life on the eve of the French Revolution. This biography of Edmé Restif (1692–1764), a Burgundian ploughman and the author's father, offers a rare and detailed glimpse into rural France in the eighteenth century. ""This work, the most esteemed of mine and the one that has had the most general success, was inspired to me all of a sudden, while finishing the printing of the 'Nouvel Abeilard', on which I had been working tirelessly, I put pen to paper with ardor and wrote it all at once, for I was occupied with nothing else, as long as the printing lasted."" (Bretonne, Mes ouvrages, p. 149).‎