Essai Historique Sur La Bibliotheque Du Roi, Et sur Chacun des Depots qui la Composent, avec la Descrption des batimens, & des Objets les Plus Curieux a voir dans cas Differens Depots
first edition hardcover
1782 · Paris
by LE PRINCE, Nicholas-Thomas
Paris: Belin, 1782. First. hardcover. very good(+). Xxi, [III], 3720pp, small Roman & italic type (notes in a smaller size), woodcut headpiece. Contemporary gilt ruled autumn leaf calf, gilt bee design repeated on flat spine, blue leather spine label, marbled edges, joints cracked, top of spine rubbed. Paris: Belin, 1782. First Edition. Very good (+). The first study of the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the subsequently suppressed passages describing other Parisian libraries. The bulk of the text comprises an architecturally organized tour of the various departments: books, manuscripts, prints, patents of nobility, genealogies, medieval historical documents etc. There are lengthy dissertations on specific items of preeminent importance, beauty and rarity. (Inventory #: 242430)