Les Petites Familles

Paris: Le Fuel, 1820. Hardcover. Cartonnage. Slipcase. . Near Fine. Scarce, with a single copy found on OCLC at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. (We believe the BNF has a copy as well.) Anomalous is that this copy is shown as issued in 1819 yet our copy has the calendar for 1821, which suggests strongly an issuance in 1820. Either the OCLC listing is in error, or the same book was issued with eight new pages in its back. 18mo. 11.5 by 7.5 cm. 180, [8] pp. Hand-colored frontis, title page vignette, and ten other hand-colored plates of birds and mammals, all done exquisitely, and in this copy, with exceptional brightness. Indeed, the sharpness of the plates and their level of preservation compares extremely well to other almanacs issued by Le Fuel, Macilly and Janet during this period. The text is a mix of brief scientific exegeses intended for children and non-scientists and sentimental verse. The binding is the original pink silk moire, which is like the plates, very bright and well-preserved. The matching slipcase has some soiling and fading, with fraying along the edges, but it is easily in very good condition for such a thing. Internally, the book is fresh and clean, with only the most occasional light fox marks on the edges.