A pioneering "lift-the-flap" book complete with all movable parts, created as a moral instructor for young women at the beginning of the 19th-century, by father and son William and Stacey Grimaldi.
The work was published with the goal of drawing young women away from toiletries and cosmetics and guide them towards virtue, by implying that virtue could have the same affect on one's appearance as cosmetics. It contains 9 hand-coloured plates of toiletries, like "a wash to smooth wrinkles", "an universal beautifier", "superiour rouge", and "fine lip salve", each with a hinged flap which - when lifted - reveals the name of the virtue displayed. These illustrated plates are accompanied by short verses explaining their meaning.
It was written by Stacey Grimaldi (1790-1863), an English lawyer and antiquary decended from the renowned House of Grimaldi. Stacey was the second son of William Grimaldi (1751-1830), an English miniature painter, with whom he created the present work. Together they were pioneers of the interactive book, designing "lift-the-flap" books in the 1820s. Stacey and his father William were the (great-) great-grandsons of Alessandro Maria Grimaldi, who had settled in England after the bombardment of Genoa in 1684, and who was the son of Alessandro Grimaldi (1621-1683) the 121st doge of Genoa and king of Corsica.
With an owner's inscription on the first free flyleaf, the first free flyleaf is pasted onto the blank recto of the engraved title-page, partially separated again, uncovering another owner's inscription. The binding shows very slight signs of wear, the engraved title-page is water stained, slight foxing and browning throughout. Otherwise in good condition. WorldCat 39760159 (12 copies); cf. Osborne Coll. I, p. 418 (second ed.); see for the author: Grimaldi, Stacey, in the DNB 1885-1900; and for the illustrator: Grimaldi, William, in the DNB 1885-1900.