Traduction nouvelle des prophéties d'Isaïe, avec un discours préliminaire et des notes

First edition of the prophecies of Isaiah in Antoine-Eugène Genoude's translation, with a dedication to the King, a preliminary discourse on Hebrew poetry and on Isaiah, and notes on the eloquence of Holy Scripture. Copy bound without "La délivrance d'Israël", "Chœur imité de l'Écriture", "À Son Altesse Royale Madame, Duchesse d'Angoulême", the table of contents, and the errata leaf.

Fine binding in full long-grained red morocco, gilt roll-tooled border alternating lotus, palmettes, and fleurs-de-lys on the covers, gilt arms of Charles X at the center of each cover, smooth spine with five compartments, special small gilt tools depicting a bow, an arrow, a quiver, and a torch framed by oak leaves, alternating with fleurs-de-lys, gilt title and author, gilt-decorated edges and turn-ins, gilt inner roll, green moiré paper doublures, gilt edges. Some light rubbing and soiling to the binding, occasional foxing and spotting to the leaves, corner creases to two leaves, marginal restoration to the last leaf of text.

One of the earliest publications by Antoine-Eugène Genoude, translator and politician who made his career during the Restoration.

The small gilt tools adorning the spine of this copy carry a double symbolism, both religious and royal. In chapter 49 of the Book of Isaiah, the prophet alludes to his divine election: "[le Seigneur] a fait de moi une flèche acérée, il m'a caché dans son carquois". In royal iconography, the motifs of the bow, the arrow, and the quiver already appeared in Antiquity. These symbols of the king's political and military power were incorporated into French royal bindings as early as the sixteenth century: some of the most precious bindings bearing the arms of Henri II preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France carry these same motifs.

The pairing of the quiver and the torch found on this binding relates instead to the symbolism of the triumph of Love, a motif also frequently employed in the architectural decoration and furnishings of the palaces of Fontainebleau and Versailles. The quiver holds Cupid's arrows, while the torch represents the flame of passion: in a royal context, this motif celebrated the sentimental and political union of sovereigns, love being regarded as the guarantor of the kingdom's peace and prosperity.

Prestigious binding bearing the arms of Charles X in full long-grained red morocco, adorned with precious special tools of royal symbolism.