The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, accomplished rivals in the art of seduction, take the stage again in Ernest Dowson's beautifully polished translation of the scandalous French classic Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The machinations begin with the Marquise inducing Valmont to seduce the young fiancee of her former lover Gercourt, in a simple act of revenge.

Complications soon arise, however, as the intricate story, full of sub-intrigues and convoluted schemes, spirals toward a tragic end for these unscrupulous charmers. Though Laclos's deliciously wicked tale of wit, revenge, hypocrisy, seduction, and betrayal is told with the utmost refinement, to this day it retains an extraordinary power to discomfit or even shock.

In this special Collector's Edition, the elegance of the prose is stylishly complemented by the sophisticated, coolly erotic etchings of Sylvain Sauvage, originally created for a rare edition published in Paris in 1930.