135 [SEVIGNE Madame De], CHOIX DE LETTRES MORALES de mesdames De Sévigné, Grignan, Maintenon et Simiane, à l'usage des maisons d'éducation, (...).
Limoges 1843, Barbou Brothers, 2 k. +268 s.
The work is a selection of excerpts from the famous letters of Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Baroness de Sévigné, known as the Marquise de Sévigné (1626-1696), a French aristocrat known in the history of French literature as the author of several hundred letters addressed to her daughter. The Marquise wrote several hundred letters between 1669 and 1694, addressed mainly to her daughter Françoise-Marguerite. Only about half of the texts have survived to our times, as the rest were destroyed by their addressees or their heirs. They are a unique source for the history of France, during this period, as the topics addressed in the letters are related to the daily life of their author. She describes events in the social life of Paris and refers to episodes in the political life of the country that she witnessed or discussed in her salon. Volume two of the series containing mainly letters to Madame de Grignan, whose portrait by Emile Rouargue is on the frontispiece. Also, a mini engraving on the title page with a dying, or wounded, man surrounded by three people.
Age-toned, light beige Romanesque binding; on the front cover, a center cartouche colored illustration with a scene as on the title page; binding in average condition with minimal rubbing, especially on the spine and corners; spine embossed and gilt with title and floral and geometric designs, but with loss from bottom and top; interior in db condition; two pencil drawings of blindfolded women on front pastedowns; overall average condition.