Bidspirit auction | Librairie Hachette et Cie

Librairie Hachette et Cie - Les Premiers Rois de France - Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1895. Published in 1895 by the prestigious Librairie Hachette et C.ie in Paris, this monumental edition of ”Les Premiers Rois de France” (Mérovingiens, Carlovingiens et Premiers Capétiens), by Madame de Witt (née Guizot), is a historical work of extraordinary beauty based on the chronicles of Gregory of Tours to William of Tyre. The large quarto volume, comprising 795 pages, stands out for its dazzling and luxurious red percaline binding, featuring a superb polychrome plate on the front and back covers signed by the celebrated engraver Souze, richly decorated in gold with heraldic and historical motifs including angels, dolphins, the coat of arms of France with fleurs-de-lis on a blue background and ribbons with Latin inscriptions, accompanied by a spine richly ornamented with shells and entirely gilded leaf borders. Inside, the refined aesthetic is crowned by marbled paper endpapers in a ”peacock eye” pattern in warm tones, where the heraldic ex-libris of Paulo B. Ferreira is applied, along with a label from the prestigious Livraria Académica (Porto) — Livros Raros and the respective handwritten markings from an old library. The text block, in very good condition, is profusely illustrated with 11 magnificent chromolithographs protected by serpents, 47 large woodcuts outside the text, and 267 engravings integrated into the text, making this copy an exceptionally interesting bibliophilic piece and a visually impressive catalog item.