Charles Saillant

First edition of this ambitious work recounting the history of power in France from Clovis, by a man of letters who two years later would be elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Contemporary bindings in marbled brown calf, spines with five raised bands framed by a gilt roulette, further decorated with compartments of gilt fleurons in the form of pomegranates, light brown morocco title and numbering pieces, gilt fillet on the board edges, red edges, pastedowns and endpapers of shell-pattern marbled paper.

Corners bumped, light wear to the joints. On the first volume, a few faint scuffs and scratches to the rear board. A fine copy overall.

Scattered foxing and some browning throughout.

In the first volume, a loss affecting the text at pp. 257-260; in the second volume, a marginal tear of 3.7 cm; in the third volume, a stain in the margin of pp. 294-295.

New illustrated edition with first printing by Eisen of a frontispiece, an engraved title with the author's portrait in medallion, 10 figures and 10 headpieces, all engraved by De Longueil. Volume II contains variants and notes: L'essai sur la poésie épique, poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne; Poème sur la loi naturelle, etc. This edition was partly revised by Voltaire. The publishers' notice announces this edition as the only complete one, since there are more than 50 new verses scattered throughout the work.
Contemporary full red morocco binding. Smooth spine decorated in grotesque style. Brown morocco title label, olive morocco volume label. Triple fillet frame on covers with corner fleurons. Interior fillet. All edges gilt. Traces of rubbing. Some light foxing in margins and verso of certain engravings.
Superb copy, rare in this condition.
Very fine illustration by Eisen. Complete and critical edition, with notes from different editions for each canto, Marmontel's preface, the author's letter of thanks to Eisen...

First edition, illustrated with two folding maps of Italy.
Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 compartmentalized fleurons. Red morocco title and volume labels. Triple fillet frame on boards. Roulette on edges. Head caps of volumes I and IV partly torn; those of volumes V and VI worn. Tail caps of volumes I and IV worn. Upper joint of volume I partly cracked, of volume III at tail and of volume VI over the last three compartments at tail. Inverted leaves at end of table in volume IV. Despite this, satisfactory set with good general appearance.
The author does not merely provide an account of his personal journey to Italy, but aims to achieve a complete and most accurate description of contemporary Italy, so that his work serves as a modern and useful guide, compared to the numerous travels to Italy that have been written; and Abbé Richard indeed documented himself extensively to produce this study that is political, economic as well as cultural. One finds entirely new elements there, beyond Italian history and classical descriptions of monuments and works of art, such as air quality, food, roads, printing houses, courtesans, collections... Two complete volumes are devoted to Rome. The work proceeds by cities and geographical regions. Tables of contents make it easy to find particular elements of the work. A comprehensive work, considering that each volume contains approximately 400 pages. Volume 3 contains a chronology of painting schools and painters in Italy.

Traité des arbres fruitiers ; contenant leur figure, leur description, leur culture
[Treatise on Fruit Tree] First edition illustrated with a frontispiece by Sève, engraved by Launay, and 180 plates (with numerous figures) natural scale and admirably carried out according to the drawings of Claude Aubriet, Madeleine-Françoise Basseporte and engravings by Catherine Haussard, Charles Milsan, Herisset...

Contemporary bindings in full blond calf, spine in five compartments richly decorated with gilt panels and fleurons as well as the title pieces and volume labels in red and green morocco, triple gilt fillet frame on the boards, ribbed leading edges and spine ends, endpapers framed with gilt lace-work tooling, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.
Corners rubbed, some chafed patches on the boards, top spine-end of the first volume showing a small tear. Some sections and plates browned.

This very remarkable and famous work stands out from two points of view; that of the wonderfully executed illustration, and that of the fundamental theoretical work of Duhamel du Monceau, which served as a reference and manual, the author noting the difference between the varieties of gardeners and the classifications of naturalists. In his Treaty on forests, Duhamel had already used the methods applied to fruit trees (transplanting, re-rooting ...) to multiply species and save forests; methods that he long experimented with at his family estate with his brother. The engravings exclusively represent table fruits, as well as numerous graft and pruning models. Nearly 250 species of fruit are thus described (pears, plums, apples, cherries, grapes...). The work was produced with the collaboration of Father Le Berriays who contributed a little over a third of the drawings as well as a large part of the text. It will be recalled, for all practical purposes, that Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau is considered the founder of modern agronomy, since he was the first to describe and theorise the mode of development of trees.

DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU Henri Louis
Traité des arbres fruitiers; contenant leur figure, leur description, leur culture [Treatise on Fruit Trees]
Saillant et Desaint, à Paris 1768, 25 x 33,5 cm, (1f.) (2f.) (1f tit fr.)
(XXIX p.) (1 p.) et (1f.) 337 pp and (1f.) (2 f.) 280 pp., two volumes, contemporary calf
First edition, frontispiece by de Sève engraved by de Launay and 180 plates (with numerous life-size figures) admirably rendered after drawings by Claude Aubriet, Madeleine-Françoise Basseporte engraved by Catherine Haussard, Charles Milsan, Herisset, and so on.
Contemporary light brown speckled calf. Spines in six compartments with frames and gilt fleurons, title and volume labels in light brown and red morocco. Covers with gilt triple fillet frame. Large gilt dentelle frame inside covers. Double gilt fillets to edges of covers, all edges gilt. Discreet and skillful repairs to head and foot of joints and head- and tail-pieces. A few pages lightly and uniformly browned, but otherwise a very good and fresh copy with good margins.
This remarkable and very notable work stands out in two respects: firstly, that of the illustrations, which are very finely executed and secondly, the fundamental theoretical work of Duhamel du Monceau. It served as reference work and manual, the author demarcating the differences between gardeners' varieties and naturalists' classifications. In his Treatise on Forests, Duhamel had already used the methods applied to fruit trees (replanting, pruning, and so on) to increase the number of species and preserve forests; methods he had spent a great deal of time experimenting with on his family estates, along with his brother. The engravings show only table fruits, along with a number of grafts and cuts. Almost 250 kinds of fruit are thus described (pears, prunes, apples, cherries, grapes, and so on). The work was done with the help of the Abbé Le Berriays, who provided a little over a third of the illustrations and a significant portion of the text. It is worth remembering that to all intents and purposes Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau is considered the founder of modern agronomy, being the first to describe and theorize the way that trees develop.
$ 10 000