Almanach des Émigrans

12mo of (22), XXIV and 136 pp., contemporary blue waiting wrapper, uncut.

153 x 91 mm.

Almanac of the Emigrants.
Coblentz, Princes' Printing House, 1792.

First edition.

This almanac was very successful and is decorated with an engraved frontispiece: Reference to current events. (Grand-Carteret No. 1033).

Epigraph: Young heroes, fly where honor calls you; Avenge God, his Altars, the Nobility, and the lilies; Cleanse your country of all villains And return shining with immortal glory.

Frontispiece: Political reference to current events.
At the bottom of the engraving, the following verse inscription can be read: “Here is today’s sad Image of France. Furious brigands have plundered it all. They take away our Gold, leaving Assignats. Our cries are stifled by Murders.”

And, further on, there is a lengthy explanation, reproduced exactly as follows:

“A large mansion, called Free France, formerly owned by Mr. Gros-Louis, is consumed by flames. The Brigands who set it on fire take advantage of the chaos to loot and steal. They even hang one of Mr. Gros-Louis’s servants who tried to save his master. At the exit of the Mansion, one can see (sic) friend Briss… who, on the occasion of a portfolio that he has torn apart, makes a learned dissertation on freedom of the press. At his feet is Mr. de Montesq… who is brooding over his accounts and his financial plan atop bags of money, which he absentmindedly stuffs into his pockets. Further on, we see Mr. Peth… who, with a sash in hand, encourages the Duke of Ravaillac who, with all due respect, has soiled his breeches. Nearby are Chapel… Béribi and Nérouets-Barnav… who divide the stolen cash. Quite close to them is Dubois Crossé, who, holding in his hand some stolen St-Louis crosses, distributes them to Swindlers, Gamblers, and other such people. At one of the mansion’s windows, we see the young Mathieu de Montmoren… throwing out titles of Nobility. Finally, in the background, we see Sans-Culottes, armed with pikes, starving and crying out: Long Live the Nation.”

Calendar and dedicatory epistle to the Count of Artois. Then follows the “Gallery of the principal factionists tearing France apart,” some of whom are thus mocked by the editors of the New Year’s Gifts for Emigrants: Faux Chef, Condorsix, Bis-Sot, Béte-Jon, Dubois-Crossé; then songs, witticisms, civic couplets—the whole thing ending with Mirabeau's will and the Declaration of the Rights of
Woman and the Female Citizen (a satire of the Rights of Man), including an article reading: “The ladies of the Palais Royal, formerly assigned to public services, are at the disposal of the Nation.”

This almanac was very successful and was reprinted.