Saintine, X(avier)-Boniface. Picciola. From the French by Emilie Wille. IV, 281 pp., 1 Bl. (displays). 15.5 x 10 cm. Blindly embossed linen band d. C. (something rubbed and lightly bumped, backs faded out) with gold-embroidered title. Berlin, W. Natorff, 1837. Fromm I, 3571. – Very rare first German translation of the French success novel, first published in the previous year, the most well-known work of the highly productive playwright and novelist Xavier-Boniface Saintine (1798-1865); further German transmissions followed Leipzig 1846, Bremen 1870, Stuttgart 1883 and again Leipzig 1885. The heartbreaking story is told by a political prisoner who in prison seeks a mental hold on a small flower that grows between the cobblestones in the prison courtyard. "The whole thing is a sublime doctrinal poem in which the childish-frey mind carries the victory over the cold knowledge, the humility over the pride that is supported by learning. The love for his flower, for his "Picciola" awakens the life-sat Charney from his rigid indifference; she preaches to him the faith in God, in humanity; through it he finds in his dungeon what he has sought in vain in the wild bustle of the world, in rushing pleasures and learned studies - love and friendship, and in these the long-awaited, true happiness!" (Presentation). No biographical data are known from the translator Emilie Wille, who also transferred works by the French writer Sophie Gay to German. The Novitätenblatt at the end of the Berlin publishing house of W. Natorff at the end mentions two further translations Willes. – Title solved in the lower bow, in the upper white edge with smaller brown spot, otherwise only isolated small spots. Fl. Purpose with old gift dedication. About the KVK only one proof of location in German bibliothene in the ULB Bonn.