Heures Nouvelles dédiées à Madame la Dauphine

Senault, Louis. New Hours dedicated to Madame la Dauphine.
Paris, at the author’s, and in Versailles at Duval (circa 1680).

Original edition and first issue of this masterpiece of the Age of Louis XIV, entirely engraved. A celebrated work designed and engraved by Senault, which introduces a new form of the Book of Hours.

It is considered a masterpiece of calligraphy, and its success was so great that it was still being sold around 1750.

All the pages are adorned with letters in grisaille, headpieces, tailpieces, where the perfection of the engraving rivals the elegance and ingenuity of the design.

The first issue is characterized by a figure with uncovered breasts (p. 210). Judged shocking, the figure was covered in the second issue.

Very few copies of the first issue are known, featuring the uncovered figure, the dedication on the second leaf, and the prayer for the Dauphine, Marie-Christine of Bavaria.

The most elaborately decorated issue of Senault’s prayer book, and one of the most celebrated calligraphy books of the period, deriving in style from the manuscripts executed by Nicolas Jarry.

Precious copy bound in contemporary morocco leather on which were applied the arms of theCountess du Barry at the time the volume was presented to her.

The lover of Madame du Barry, Marquis Jean du Barry, thought he could take advantage of his mistress’s charms; he devised the plan of obtaining for her the official position of royal courtesan, left vacant by the death of Madame de Pompadour and sought after by many “high and worthy ladies.” But she needed to be presented at the court of Louis XV, and for the presentation, a name. Jean du Barry, a highly skilled knight, was undeterred by these obstacles. He arranged for Jeanne to marry his brother Guillaume, Count du Barry, who, for his part, submitted to the ceremony with a truly ancient docility. With that done, the presentation took place. Louis XV was immediately captivated by the charms of the new beauty, and, as one can imagine, generously rewarded the two noble intermediaries. Accused of conspiring with emigrants, Du Barry was condemned by the revolutionary tribunal and executed on December 8, 1793. The last favorite of Louis XV owned a library of 1,068 volumes, all skillfully bound in red morocco, gilt-edged, and stamped with the aforementioned arms. These volumes are highly sought after by collectors, both for their provenance and for the beauty and elegance of their binding. Du Barry, although very beautiful, was hardly capable of forming a library on her own—she couldn’t write a word without making a spelling error: her bookseller took care of it for her. At first, one noticed good works of history, literature, and even of morals; later, lighter productions, which her supplier surely included to amuse the moments of the jaded monarch. Louis XV, it is said, was delighted by the literary taste of his new mistress, and when her collection arrived at the Château de Versailles, he exclaimed: “The Marquise de Pompadour had more books than the Countess, but they were not so well bound nor so well chosen; thus, we shall name her librarian of Versailles.”

Thanks to this library, says Paul Lacroix, Madame du Barry was able to improve her reading, but she never managed to correct the spelling of her forebears.

Copies of the very first issue are rare and extremely rare in armorial binding.

In May 2003, a copy in contemporary double-morocco binding, without arms, was sold for €25,000.

Provenance: Madame du Barry (1743-1793); E. Daguin (1905); Marlborough.