Oscar Havard - Les Femmes Illustres de la France - Magnifique cartonnage d'editeur - 1887

Magnificent copy of the famous work by Oscar Havard, The Illustrious Women of France, published by the prestigious Alfred Mame et Fils editions in Tours in 1887 (3rd edition).

This work traces, through historical and biographical notes, the journeys of the great female figures in the history of France (Saint Blandine, Joan of Arc, Blanche of Castile, Anne of Brittany, Madame de Sévigné, Marie-Antoinette, Madame de Staël, etc.).
** Binding and visual condition:
- Binding: Remarkable publisher’s card binding in red percaline original. The front board is richly adorned with gold and black decorations depicting literary, artistic, and military attributes (quill, sword, painter’s palette, crests). Spine titled and ornamented in the same style. The back board stamped cold with the publisher Mame’s mark.
- Edges: Entirely gilt, preserving a very handsome shine.
- Interior: Complete with the text and the illustrations hors-texte on guard (including the frontispiece depicting Joan of Arc at Reims by Édouard Zier). Old paper showing foxing to varying degrees depending on the leaves, not affecting the readability of the text.
- Structure: Solid block of text, binding firmly shut and corners well preserved.

A very beautiful exemplar representative of 19th-century gift bindings and price bindings, ideal for completing a collection of illustrated books or works on the history of France.

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