Adèle et Théodore, ou lettres sur l'éducation

Second revised and first illustrated edition, the original having appeared several months earlier. Preface by the author who confesses to having spent 15 years of reflection on this work.
This edition is illustrated with 12 magnificent aquatint engravings, in mezzotint, within ornamental frames by Borel. This suite is extremely rare, it is not announced on the title page and is unknown to bibliographers. These engravings are captioned and were indeed made for this second edition, but no other copy of this second edition that we have encountered contains them. Absent from Cohen, Livres illustrés du XVIIIe siècle.
Full glazed porphyry calf binding. Raised band spine with ornamental tooling. Chocolate morocco title and volume labels framed with fillets. Triple fillet frame on boards. Gilt edges. Joints of volume II cracked at foot. A lack at foot of volume III. On the last leaves of volume II in margin, a pale and yellowish stain. In volume III, 2 foxing stains in margin p.3. 3 corners bumped. Rubbing along joints. A small lack on upper board of volume I. Rubbing. In volume 1, p.216, a tear with lack in lower margin under one cm. Some foxing. Despite some defects, handsome copy in a quality binding.
This epistolary novel with educational purpose, influenced by Rousseau's thinking on pedagogy, was written by Madame de Genlis in 1781 and published in 1782, very shortly after her appointment as governor of the children of the Duke of Chartres, one of whom, the Duke of Valois, is the first prince of the blood, the future Louis-Philippe.
The interest of this work, many times republished and translated into several languages throughout the 19th century, lies in the association of two educations, one for girls and boys of aristocratic origin, the other for a prince whose governor does everything to make him an enlightened monarch. Madame de Genlis, whose features are found in the main character of the novel, Madame d'Almane, affirms the legitimacy for mothers to conduct the education of their children, according to a line of conduct associating moral principles and access to knowledge equally recognized for girls and boys.