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Bordeaux: Chez les Freres Labottiere, 1785. Full morocco, 4 3/4 inches tall. A very finely bound almanac with gilt bands and panels around floral centre tools on a smooth back, a gilt fillet and wide floral roll frame the boards, dentelles and all edges gilt. There is a crease to the leather on the upper board and faint ink stains on the lower. A scarce almanac from just before the French Revolution printed for the Guienne (or Guyenne) region, the old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of Aquitania Secunda and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. Following the French Revolution, the province became the departments of Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Lot, Aveyron and much of Tarn-et-Garonne. An exceptionally clean copy in the original French.

Paris: Librairie Borell, 1898. Quarter morocco, 5 1/2 inches tall. Delightful little volume in a pretty binding with two gilt raised bands and delicate gilt tooling to the spine. Gilt top edge. The charming full page illustrations by J. Wagrez are repeated 'Hors-Texte'. A retelling of the myth of Biblis, who after falling in love with her twin brother Caunus, follows him across Greece, until grief-struck she is turned into a spring, or fountain. In French.

Londres (London): J. J. Stockdale, 1814. Full calf, 7 inches tall. A splendid 'Romantic' binding with gilt raised bands, red label and dense and intricate gilt tooling to the panels and blind tooling to the boards within gilt detail. French writer and classicist Jacques Delille's poem illustrates his Royalist sympathies and distaste for the Republican regime that forced him into exile. Embellished with an engraved portrait and 2 further engraved plates. With the neat ink inscription 'G. H. Wheeler' on the half title. A beautiful copy in fine condition, in the original French.

Paris: Chez Garnery, Libraire, 1825. 3 volume set, 5 inches tall. A charming full vellum binding from the early 1800's with gilt bands, twin red labels and dense gilt tooling on a smooth back, a gilt roll frames the boards. All edges gilt. Stipple engraved portrait and folding genealogical table. With the inscription 'Anna Jane Pochin, Florence 1828' on the first blank. Madame de Genlis was a novelist and children's educationalist who is best remembered for her letters and journals of the late 18th and early nineteenth century of which this is a fine selection. In the original French.

Paris: Chez Pierre Ribou, 1715. 5 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A lovely full early 18th century mottled calf with raised bands, twin labels, which vary in colour, and ornate floral gilt tooling to the panels, so typical of the period. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the bookplate of N. F. B. le Sage and that of the Bibliotheque de Cirey, the library of Madame de Simiane at the Chateau de Cirey. With fine engraved plates throughout. Quinault was a celebrated playwright and perhaps most famous for composing libretti for Lully's works. A very scarce edition, in the original French.

Amsterdam: 1745. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An exquisite full crushed morocco binding by Reymann with gilt raised bands and exceptionally fine and delicate tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. The whole work is remarkably bright and clean. There is a small black ink stain in the margin of pages 3-6 in volume one and no frontispiece to volume 2 was ever bound in. Embellished with an engraved frontispiece to volume 1, engraved vignettes to both title pages, Engraved tailpieces and 68 engravings illustrating the tales. In the original French.

Anvers: P.Tessaro, c.1850. Half morocco, 10 1/4 inches tall. A rather splendid binding with elaborate gilding in the Cathedral style on the smooth spine. With the following inscription on the first blank: "A Monsieur J.P. Willeumier hommage de l'auteur E. Le Poittevin de la Croix". Slightly rubbed, foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. In the original French.

Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, 1860. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. Full calf by the great firm of Leighton, from the library of Alfred Rothschild, but without his bookplate. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and neat centre tools to the panels. Twin gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Pink edges. A fine copy of the first edition of this scarce title. In the original French.

Paris: Chez Nyon, Saillant, Desaint, 1766. 2 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A beautiful 18th century tree calf binding from the celebrated Library of Lord Macclesfield and with his 2 armorial bookplates and, as usual, his armorial blind stamps. With gilt bands, superb gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels. Yellow edges. The contents are complete with the two folding engraved plates and woodcut devices to the title page, decorative initials and head and tail pieces. Slight rubbing. This is the history of Xenophon's brilliant military leadership in leading the 10,000 Greek mercenaries in their retreat from Cyrus's attempt to take control of the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century B.C.. In the original French.

Paris: Éditions de Cluny, 1948. Full morocco, 7 inches tall. A Superb full straight grain morocco binding with the ticket of René Kieffer Reliures d'Art. The smooth spine has a a gilt olive branch device above and below title cartouche. On both boards there is a gilt embossed design incorporating a helmet and foliage. This unique copy is embellished with 20 original watercolours by Maurice Lauro illustrating scenes in the book. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Original wrappers bound in. In the original French.

Paris: J. Techener, 1861. 11 volume set, 8 inches tall. A superb half crushed morocco by David with gilt raised bands and exquisite gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. With 2 splendid portraits of mother and daughter as frontispieces to volume I. A fine edition printed on hand made paper. Madame de Sevigné was incomparably the most influential woman writer of French literature. Her letters are frequently found to be the most reliable source for important events of the Ancien Régime.
A beautiful set in the original French.

Paris: Charpentier, 1865 (1866). Half morocco, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very fine half crushed morocco with gilt raised bands, gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. The original wrappers are bound in. With the bookplate of Alfred and Blanche de Curzon. There is a stain on the original title page which has offset onto the end paper and a slight degree of foxing. Otherwise a beautiful copy of this scarce and bizarre first edition. 'Spirite' is an extraordinary tale which, unusually for Gautier, ends happily, with the young couple passionately in love being together, but only in the afterlife in the form of sprites. In the original French.

Paris: Librairie L. Conquet, 1891. Full Morocco, 9 inches tall. A beautiful full crushed morocco for Hatchards with raised bands and remarkable floral gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Wide gilt dentelles, watered silk doublures and all edges gilt. Armorial bookplate. There is some rubbing, a very faint mark on the upper board and some cockling on the reverse of the free watered silk endpapers. One of 400 copies (out of a total of 600) on 'papier vélin de Marais'. With a portrait by Delort and engravings by Boisson. In the original French. Madame de Staal's remarkable Memoirs, including two years incarcerated in the Bastille, have not been out of print since first being published.

Paris: L. Carteret, 1910. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb full morocco binding by Bickers with gilt raised bands and very smart gilt pallets framing the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Original wraps bound in. With the bookplate of Alfred de Curzon, 19th century French painter. Slight foxing to the preliminaries. Madame Campan was in the service of Marie-Anoinette before and during the horrors of the French Revolution. This set is number 204 exemplaires sur papier velin du Marais. There are 63 very fine engravings by Leon Boisson from illustrations by LALAUZE. In the original French.

Paris: Desessart, 1844. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A very fine binding by Pétrus Ruban in full crushed morocco with gilt raised bands, exquisite gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the bookplate of Daniel Henry Holmes. A stunning copy of the first edition of this set of literary criticism and biographies by the flamboyant French poet, dramatist, novelist and art and literary critic, in pristine condition. In the original French.

Paris: Benjamin Duprat, 1839. Quarter morocco with green vellum tips, 10 inches tall. An impressive binding with raised bands and a coronet atop a monogram in the panels and gilt top edge. With the bookplate of the Bibliothèque de Mouchy. Slight rubbing and a stain to the corner of some leaves. A tall copy finely printed on hand made paper.