Rare Books Exhibition

French Fiction

1996 January - March

The current exhibition in the Rare Books Exhibition area on the first floor of the ISB is entitled "French Fiction" and deals with the genre from the early romances to the Histoire d'O.

Viewing the exhibition gives you the opportunity to see exactly what the "French Novel" has looked like over the years, as almost all the works on display are in their original bindings.

The subject matter ranges from the mildly salacious to collections of imaginary voyages and fairy stories. Many have finely engraved illustrations.

Among the lesser-known works we find Cyrano de Bergerac'c Voyage to the Moon, in an English translation of 1754, and Mercier's L'An Deux Mille Quatre Cent Quarante, a novel set in the future, in the year 2440, but written in 1771.

Also on display is a collection of works by Paul Wenz, a French novelist who spent most of his life in Forbes in outback New South Wales. Many of his works are set in Australia, but very few have been translated.

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>> Exhibition catalogues are available, free of charge, from the Rare Books information desk or via email

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