Description

AN ENTIRELY UNCUT COPY OF THIS MASTERPIECE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY PRINTING. xl, 222, 2 pp. One of a series of French and classical texts printed by Didot, on the orders of Louis XVI, for the education of his son, the heir to the throne (who, it turns out, died in captivity in 1795 at age 10, two years after his father was beheaded.) This is the first volume of the series printed by Pierre Didot. It is a gorgeous example of fine printing, with large and clear types on the best paper (one of 250 copies on Angoulême wove paper). Huge untrimmed margins with deckle edges. Folio in 4s (page size 32 x 24 cm, as issued). Entirely uncut in the original plain blue boards, spine gone but stitching solid. A bit of old, faint staining to inner margins of some leaves, else FINE AND BRIGHT, a pristine copy of a rare and beautiful book, almost never found in original condition.