Paris, chez Lamy, 1786.
12vo. of (2) ll., xlv pp., (1) l., 368 pp., (2) ll., 5 full-page plates. Full red morocco, triple gilt fillet around the covers, arms gilt-stamped in the center, flat spine decorated with gilt fleurons, green morocco lettering-piece, gilt inner border, gilt edges, tiny waterstain on the upper cover. Contemporary morocco binding with the arms of Queen Marie-Antoinette, made by Blaizot.
163 x 92 mm.
First edition.
Luxury copy printed on large vellum paper dedicated to “Monseigneur le Comte d’Artois” bound in contemporary red morocco with the arms of Queen Marie-Antoinette.
The author, Pierre Laureau, was born in Dijon, in 1730. After having benefited from high education, he committed himself to young people’s education, and during fifty-six years, he honorably fulfilled his functions of teacher in which he also found enough time to write a few educational elementary books. He was historiographer of the Count of Artois and composed this interesting “History of France before Clovis” where it is said in the approval: “Amateurs of strong and new erudition, regarding several discoveries of monuments, medals, etc… will certainly approve the author’s research.”
“Queen Marie-Antoinette had, next to the books of the Petit Trianon, an important library that she had installed in the chateau des Tuileries. This library, that only contained 1 800 volumes when Campan started to write its methodical catalogue, had almost tripled when the Revolution happened, and two handwritten lists given in alphabetical order bearing the name of the Queen and the date of 1792 on their wrappers, reveal the existence, at that time, of 1 371 books representing 4 712 volumes. We still have to write the description of these books that were confiscated by decree of the Convention and transferred in block to our great library of Richelieu, where they still are, a few wrecks excluded, respectfully gathered in private collections. This work, in addition to the previous, will give the most complete possible idea of the set of this royal collection.
Her library was one of the most important of that time and if plays, novels and, among them, popular little books, appear in large number, it would be unfair to forget that masterpieces of human mind figure prominently with Pascal, Bossuet, Fenelon, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Boileau, Rousseau, Corneille, Moliere, Racine, Regnard, Voltaire, and many others, whose name can be found by glancing through the catalogue.
The queen’s books, for the most part bound by Blaizot, are, for most of them, uniformly bound in red morocco, with the arms of France and Austria, side by side, with simple fillets on the covers.”
(E. Quentin Bauchart, 225).
Precious volume of the history of France bound for queen marie-Antoinette.
From the libraries Joly and Docteur Lucien Graux with ex-libris; the latter was known to collect only meaningful books.
