HOMMAGE AUX MUSES

Paris: Chez Marcilly fils aîné, [1824]. 105 x 63 mm. (4 1/8 x 2 1/2"). 6 p.l., 48 pp., [12] leaves.
Publisher's green paper boards with Neoclassical engraved decorations, gilt edges, IN THE VERY FRAGILE ORIGINAL MATCHING PULL-OFF CASE. Housed in a fine modern linen custom clamshell box, green morocco label on spine. Engraved title page with vignette, six engraved plates with original tissue guards, engraved cover and 12 engraved vignette headpieces for the ladies' appointment calendar at rear. From the Ellen K. Morris and Edward S. Levin Collection of Publishers' Bookbindings. A hint of soiling and chafing to boards and slipcase, isolated faint foxing to contents, but A VERY FINE SPECIMEN, WITH ALMOST NO SIGNS OF USE.

This charming little almanac contains romantic poems and engravings of young lovers in addition to a calendar with saints' days and phases of the moon, as well as a section (unused) for making notes and jotting down appointments. Our copy is remarkably well preserved, down to the delicate paper pull-off case. It comes from the splendid collection of publisher's bindings assembled over three decades by Ellen K. Morris and Edward S. Levin, and exhibited at the Grolier Club in 2000. In a review of the sumptuous catalogue for the exhibition, written for the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Andrea Krupp praises the "pristine condition" of this "glittering and opulent collection." ..