The
Cats by François-Augustin de Moncrif
This charming book of anecdotes and poetry about cats was published in 1728. Moncrif, a member of the French Academy, is largely forgotten except as its author. Nowadays such a work would be quite ordinary, but it was the first ever of this kind. In that Augustan age, writing on such a subject was considered a trivial waste of time for an author with any pretensions to gentility; Augustin was subjected to so much mockery that he withdrew the book from circulation. Nonetheless, we can enjoy it as it was intended; even cat-haters might find entertainment here. Our version has both an English translation and the original French.
