BASTIDE (M). MAY THE INDEPENDENT, a diabolical, epigrammatic, funny and prophetic politician. Paris, Ledoyen (circa 1850). In-12, glazed tawny calf, gold fillet on dishes, gold inner fillets, gold tr. (Field). "God intended me to be ugly and deformed on this earth, and He made me a hunchback, and I must confess that I have already been mocked for this unsightly protuberance. Luckily, nature has not been completely marauding towards me; no; she has endowed me with a rather beautiful intelligence, giving me the right to have some pretensions in mind, an advantage which makes me capable of taking revenge on the quolibets thrown against me, and even of outbidding the bad jokers, who too often allow themselves to do so". Nice copy of the first edition.