Le jeune volontaire amoureux
Two original 18th century gouache paintings decorated the two covers of the binding.
This type of exceptional 18th-century binding, combining original gouache paintings with decorated, cut-out morocco leather and mosaics with mica flakes, appears on the market once every quarter century.
Pierre Bérès catalogued in 1994 a 16° similar binding (100 mm high) but without mica on a « court calendar for the year 1777 (« Livres et manuscrits choisis. Cat. 86. December 1994, n° 47).
Paris, veuve Tiger, 1798.
16° of 32 pp., (8) ff., pp. 33-64. Complete.
Ivory morocco, covers decorated with an openwork frame of black morocco leather embellished with gold-plated irons and dots, revealing pink mica flakes embellished with silver and gold flakes and an emerald disc at the top and bottom of the covers; in the center of the upper cover, a pretty gouache painting depicting the Countess's “ballroom dressing” assisted by four servants in an 18th-century ceremonial salon decorated with draperies, paintings, and an armchair; the lower cover is decorated with a gouache painting illustrating an allegory of Africa with a cherub wearing an elephant's head, holding a scorpion in one hand and a cornucopia in the other, surrounded by a lion, snakes, and birds in the center of a clearing surrounded by flowers and woods under a partially clear sky, blue tabis linings. 18th-century gouache binding, mosaic and decorated with mica-covered gold leaf.
98 x 58 mm.
An 18th century binding with two original gouache paintings on decorated morocco with mosaic and mica.
This exceptional binding covers the Almanac entitledLe Jeune volontaire amoureux. Almanach plaisant.
A unique item! This almanac is not listed in any bibliography and is missing from all libraries.
It contains around forty refrains, songs, and epigrams, including a Hymn to Love : « Allons enfans de Cythère / Le jour de plaire est arrivé. /Pour vous unir, de l'hymenée / L'étendart joyeux est levé… » Engraved and colored frontispiece.
« During the 18th century, a small number of bookbinders, mostly based in Paris, produced bindings of a very distinctive nature for certain enthusiasts, decorated with mosaics made from different colored leather. These choice examples, which were highly sought after by the great bibliophiles of the 18th century, mostly still exist today. Some entered public collections as early as the 18th century: this is the case of those purchased by the Marquis de Méjanes, which he donated to his native Provence and are now in the library of Aix-en-Provence; Others, confiscated during the Revolution from emigrated noble families, became part of the literary deposits that formed the basis of our great provincial libraries, such as the Almanacs of the Bournonville family, currently preserved in Dijon. In the 19th and 20th centuries, a large number found a permanent home in collections bequeathed to public institutions: the Chantilly book collection, donated by the Duke of Aumale to the Institut de France; the library of the Dutuit brothers, which became the property of the City of Paris; and, in New York, the Pierpont Morgan Library.» (Louis-Marie Michon).
Exceptional and splendid 18th century mosaic binding decorated with mica and miniatures in gouache.
This type of exceptional binding combining original gouache paintings with decorated mosaic morocco with mica appears on the market every quarter century.
In 1994, 30 years ago, Pierre Bérès catalogued a similar binding decorated with two small gouaches by Moreau on a « court calendar for the year 1777 » he priced 675 000 FF (103 000 €, 30 years ago).
(Réf : « Livres et manuscrits choisis. Catalogue 86. December 1994, n° 47).
