Lettres A  Sophie, sur la Physique, la Chimie et l'Histoire Naturelle. Hardcover - 1810

H. Nicolle, Paris., 1810 First edition. Complete in two volumes.(4), xvi, 354, (2); (4), 410 (1) pages. Marbled endpapers. Marbled edges. Silk ribbon page-markers. Very light toning and occasional spots. Small marginal stain in gutter of title & half-title pages of volume 2. 12.5 x 20 cm. Contemporary full tree calf. Each spine with two red morocco, gilt lettered & numbered labels; the compartments with alternating gilt hand-tooled designs of radiating circular patterns, radiating floral stems within horizontal concertina borders, and densely patterned fields of stars and dots (short wormhole and split at top of lower hinge of volume 2 and small hole at foot of volume 1). Upper and lower boards with scrolling gilt tulip and honeysuckle scrolling tooled borders within single gilt fillets (very slight rubbing to edges). Napoleonic era binding that presents beautifully. The best-known books by Louis-Aime Martin (1782-1847); in 1815 Martin was appointed editing secretary of the chamber of deputies, and soon afterward professor of belles-lettres, moral philosophy, and history in the polytechnic school, until 1831. He then became head librarian at Ste. Genevieve. His first successful production was a semi-scientific book, called Lettres de Sophie sur la physique, la chimie et l'histoire naturelle (2 vols. 8vo, 1810), an agreeable mixture of prose and verse, suggested by the extraordinary success of the "Lettres d'Emilie sur la Mythologie" by Demoustier. "Lettres A  Sophie" was a great success from its first publication. His wife, born about 1782, died in November, 1847, was a daughter of the marquis de Belleport. At the age of 18 she had married Bernardin de St. Pierre, then a widower in his 63d year. She was a favorite with many of her celebrated contemporaries, especially Lamartine, to whom she bequeathed her fortune. WorldCat only locates one single copy at the Fondo Librario Antico, in Rome.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.