Collectif - Petite encyclopédie poétique - 1804

[COLLECTIF]. — SMALL POETIC ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Paris / Lyon, [1804].
Set of 14 volumes in-18 [out of 18]. Full period marbled calf leather, smooth spines adorned, title pieces.

Monumental and delightful portable anthology of French poetry from the Ancien Régime and the Revolutionary/Imperial period. Conceived by a society of men of letters, this collection gathers the best of the French Parnassus (from La Fontaine to Voltaire, including Rousseau, Boileau and the lighter poets of the eighteenth century), methodically organized by genres.

The series closes with the savory and very technical Portable Dictionary of Rhymes, written by the Lyonnais academic L. Ph. de La Madelaine, a genuine toolbox for any apprentice poet eager to master the subtleties of caesura and the alexandrine.

Beautiful decorative set in uniform period bindings. The heads and spines show some wear and signs of use, but the bindings remain solid and the shelf alignment is and visually striking. Interiors clean on laid rag paper, with a few scattered foxings."}