Attractively bound copy of this interesting French almanac for the year 1804-1805 (An XIII, i.e. year 13 counted from 1792), the period running from 23 September 1804 to 22 September 1805, according to the French Republican calendar, which was used from 1793 to 1805. It is the last almanac using the terminology of the French Revolution before Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was crowned Emperor of the French on 2 December 1804.
This almanac contains a wealth of information concerning the organization of the administration of the French state in the first year of the First French Empire. It comprises the names of the main dignitaries in France and abroad (mentioning i.a. Thomas Jefferson as President of the United States of America), the public officials in Paris and in the provinces, the magistracy, the clergy, the army officers (etc.) as well as the usual subjects present in most almanacs (i.a. annual fairs, stagecoaches and timetables). It is concluded with an extensive index (pp. 817-824) and a supplement (pp. 825-832), which is not always present in most copies we could trace.
The French publisher Laurent Étienne Testu (1765-1839) worked from 1788 for the French printer François Jean Noël Debure (1743-1802), who was the son-in-law of the French printer Laurent Charles dHoury (1723-1786). The family of DHoury had started with the annual publication of the famous Almanach royal which appeared under this title from 1700 to 1792.
In 1791 Testu took over Debures printing house and in 1792 the title of the almanac was turned into Almanach national de France due to the new political situation caused by the French Revolution. After Napoleons coronation to emperor in 1804, its title was subsequently changed into Almanach imperial. Testu was appointed imperial publisher to Napoleon until his abdication in 1814.
With the 19th-century oval bookplate of the French military Albert Le Lorier ("Sous-Intendant Militaire") mounted on the front paste-down. The head of spine is slightly chipped/damaged, the corners of the boards are slightly worn. The title-page is slightly stained in the outer blank margin, two text leaves (Oo2 and Zz5) are re-attached (probably replaced) and their outer blank margins are slightly shortened, otherwise a beautiful binding in very good condition. Grand-Carteret, Les almanachs français, no. 1433.