SMITH, Charlotte Turner. Ethelinde or the lake recluse. Translated from English by M. de la Montagne, author of several dramatic works. London, Paris: Lavillette, 1790[volumes 1 to 3]; London, Paris: Garnery, An quatrième de la république[1795-1796][volume 4]. - 4 volumes in 3 volumes in-12, 159 x 100: 371 pp. ; 310 pp. poorly quantified 290 ; 439 pp. poorly quantified 438 ; (2 ff.), 552 pp. Marbled half-basin, smooth back decorated, speckled edges ( early 19th century binding ). Extremely rare French first edition of this novel by English poet and novelist Charlotte Turner Smith (1749-1806). The French translation is by Pierre de La Montagne. This Gothic novel was first published in English in 1789. It is the author's second novel, succeeding Emmeline or the Orphan of the Castle (1788) and preceding Celestine or the Victim of Prejudice (1791), Desmond or the Philanthropist Lover (1792) and The Old Cousin's Testament (1793). This first translation went relatively unnoticed, hence its excessive rarity, and it was not until its reissue in 1796 that the text was really discovered. Smith was one of the pioneers of the Gothic novel, and preceded in the genre his compatriot Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) whose first text appeared in England in 1789. She influenced renowned authors such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Complete copy of Volume 4, which appeared in 1795-1796, before the second French edition given by Fuchs in 1796. It seems that it appeared indifferently at Lavillette's address or as here at Garnery. No copies of this edition appear to be available in French public libraries. The WorldCat reports the existence of the 4 volumes in Augsburg and Munich (all at Lavillette's address) and the 4th volume alone (at Garnery's address) at Stocholm's Libris Library .