LE PETIT PAROISSIEN COMPLET.

(PRAYER BOOK).

(Paris: Louis-Guillaume de Hansy, 1768). 171 x 102 mm. (6 3/4 x 4"). 6 p.l., 780 pp.

ELEGANT CONTEMPORARY BURGUNDY CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, covers with rococo-style frame of curling floral vines accented with small tools, central cipher (of "CS"?) with heart and coronet above and a fleuron below, raised bands, spine compartments with central floral sprig surrounded by small tools, green morocco label, gilt-rolled turn-ins, endpapers printed with alternating gilt stars and dots, all edges gilt (small, neat older repair to head of rear joint). With small vignette on title page, three headpiece vignettes, and an engraved frontispiece of Saint Ursula. Text in French and Latin. Two small dark stripes to lower cover, a bit of foxing or browning to a few gatherings (the paper stock generally a little less than bright), other trivial imperfections, but an excellent copy in quite desirable condition, the text fresh and clean, and the handsomely decorated original binding bright and scarcely worn.

This is an attractively bound 18th century French prayer book that remains much as it was in the 1760s. The delicacy of the decoration and tooling here are testament to the quality of the workshop that produced the binding, and the still-lustrous sheen of the leather is perhaps a reflection of the fact that the volume was more a carefully preserved gift, rather than an instrument of piety. (ST12314)

Price: $950.00