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an old book with a brown cover and a green bindingan old book with a picture of two chers in a framean old book with a black and white image of the title of a poeman old book with a picture of a woman in a bedan old book with a picture of a bird on itan old book with a picture of a man and a woman
ALDE

159 - FAVRE (Abbé de). *Les Quatre heures de la toilette des dames…
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Estimate €500 - €600
Sale commission
Description
FAVRE (Abbé de). *Les Quatre heures de la toilette des dames*. An erotic poem in four cantos. Paris, J.-F. Bastien, 1779. Large 8vo, marbled calfskin, smooth spine with decoration, red edges (contemporary binding). First edition of this charming poem dedicated to the Princess of Lamballe, a friend of Marie-Antoinette. The illustrations, from the first print run, include a frontispiece title page, a vignette bearing the dedicatee’s coat of arms, four full-page plates and four large headpieces designed by Leclerc and engraved on copper by Arrivet, Halbou, Legrand, Leroy and Patas. ‘The end-piece illustrations,’ writes Cohen, ‘are superb. The one in the third canto, which is said to depict the Princess de Lamballe’s head adorned with a feather, is particularly intriguing, given the tragic end of this lady”, whose head was paraded on the tip of a pike during the September Massacres of 1792. Bound together with: BERQUIN (Arnaud). *Pygmalion*, a lyrical scene by Mr J. J. Rousseau, set to verse by Mr Berquin. Paris, n.p., 1775. – Followed by: *Idylle*. No place, no date. ‘A very fine, elegantly illustrated volume’ (Cohen), entirely engraved and adorned with a frontispiece title page by Marillier and six charming vignettes by Moreau, engraved on copper by Delaunay and Ponce. Included, as is fitting, is the ‘Idylle sur L’Espérance’ by the same author, adorned with a vignette and a colophon engraved by Gaucher after Marillier. A very fine copy, with generous margins, in a lovely contemporary binding. Discreet restoration to the back cover; a small tear in the lower margin of the dedication page. The half-title page of the *Idylle*, printed on a shorter sheet of paper, is missing, as is often the case. Cohen, 376 (Favre) and 140–141 (Berquin).
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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