Essai sur l'origine de l'écriture, sur son introduction dans la Grèce et son usage jusqu'au temps d'Homère, c'est-à-dire jusqu'à l'an mille avant notre ère

Rare first edition.
Full glazed fawn calf binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt and blind-stamped typographical motifs, title and author labels lacking, gilt friezes at head and foot, one joint cracked at head, gilt roulettes (faded) on headcaps, frame of gilt frieze on boards struck at their centers with a blind-stamped mandorla, some angular rubbing to boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly bumped, gilt edges at head and foot of leading edges, marbled edges, contemporary romantic binding.
Foxing.
Work decorated with one engraving as well as 4 folding plates hors-texte (the first of these with a tear in its left margin), two leaves of manuscript notes relating to the work have been bound at the end of the volume.