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Very rare educational work in a fine armorial dedication binding from the Bourbon restoration, for Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême, the only heir of Louis XVI to survive the Revolution

GALLAND, P.J.
Cours pratique d'éducation à l'usage des jeunes demoiselles, et convenable aux jeunes gens qui ne sont pas à porté de suivre les études de collège, ou qui les ont suivies sans succès; contenant la grammaire, précédée de principes de lecture servant d'introduction; la rhétorique, l'arithmétique, la cosmographie, la géographie, l'histoire et la mythologie, traitée séparément pour l'enfance et pour l'adolescence, par demandes et par réponses. Dédié à Son Altesse Royale Madame, Duchesse d'Angoulême.
Paris, Librairie d'Éducation d'Alexis Eymerie, and the author (on back of title-page: printed by J.-B. Imbert), 1816 (vol. 3!)-1817 (vols. 1-2). 3 volumes. Large 12mo (17.5 x 10.5 cm). With a large folding engraved map of France, 3 astronomical and cosmographical figures on 3 engraved plates, a large folding hierarchical "tableau synoptique" of French grammar, and numerous numerical tables and mathematical equations in the text. Contemporary richly gold-tooled, grained green morocco, each board with the large arms of the dedicatee, Marie Thérèse de France, Duchesse d'Angoulême, daughter of King Louis XVI: a crowned double coat- of-arms (each in an oval) in a wide border of fleurs-de-lis and tulip-like flowers, the dexter arms (of her husband) that normally used by the Duc de Berry, but also by the seconde maison Capétienne d'Artois and the sinister arms (of her father Louis XVI) matching that of the Kings of France, pink silk endleaves, gilt edges. [4], 515, [1]; 552, [2]; 492, [2] pp.
€ 25,000
Very rare first and only edition of a compendious educational work intended for girls, dedicated (in the newly restored Bourbon monarchy) to Marie Thérèse de France (1778-1851), Duchesse d'Angoulême and daughter of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, the only heir directly descended from Louis XVI to survive the Revolution. The dedication itself appears in volume 1 (1817), but is noted on all three title-pages (so also 1816). The present copy is in a beautiful armorial morocco binding clearly intended as a dedication copy for Marie Thérèse, with her arms on both boards of each volume. She had married her first cousin Louis Antoine d'Artois (1775-1844), Duc d'Angoulême in 1799 (he was to be King of France for 20 minutes in 1830 when his father and he abdicated, then pretender to the throne, calling himself Louis XIX). She was nearly forty and childless when the book appeared, soon after the 1814/15 restoration of the Bourbon monarchy with her uncle as King Louis XVIII. Rather than impale the husband's and father's arms as the English did, French ladies displayed them side by side: courtoisie.
The book contains lessons in all subjects girls of good family should be taught. The first volume covers French grammar and syntax, with separate courses for younger and older girls, followed by a basic course in rhetoric. The second volume covers arithmetic and geography in single, extensive courses. The third and last volume covers history and mythology, again with separate courses for the younger and older girls, both presented like a catechism. with questions and answers for the children to learn by heart.
In fine condition with only a small tear in the folding table and occasional very minor foxing. Fine copy in a fine armorial dedication binding for the daughter of King Louis XVI in the restored Bourbon monarchy. KVK & WorldCat (5 copies); Quérard III, p. 245; not in Gumuchian; for the arms on the binding: Olivier, Manuel armoriées Françaises 2553, fer no. 2 (recorded on a different 1816 book).
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