PICCADILLY, LONDON

with the bows and crescents of Diane de Poitiers. After thèse corne the binding fancies of Henri III ; and in its turn the dismal blazonry of thèse gives place to the gorgeous ** Fanfares" of the illustrions De Thou.

Thus , too , ihe Seventeenth century is represented by the most famous achievements of Le Gascon ; that is of the books he bound for the House of Condé ; for the Chancellor Séguier ; for the Surintendant Fouquet , among whose Ireasures the Jarry MS. of La Fontaine's "* Adonis" is remarkable , as deserving of spécial distinction.

And thus , a not less apt and excellent use has been made of the noblest Mosaics of the Eî^hteenth century — as, for instance, the Régent Orléans* own copy of the •* Daphnis '\ and the ** Catullus " bound for Count d'Hoym. — The Fyot Ms.,.also in Mosaïc and with the arms of Marie- Antoinette , has not been forgotten. The book ends brilliantly with a fac-similé of the binding, bearing the arms of Louis XV, of the •• Instructions données à La Pèrouse *\ for his famous voyage. It is a pageant , exhaustive and complète , of the best and purest types of French bookbinding.

The reproduction of thèse admirable pièces of art was cntrusted to M. Charreyre , who has accomplished his'task by the same engraving process to which we owe his late magnificent reproduction of Rembrandt's larger etchings. Printed by M. Salmon , the two and twenty plates of the présent *' History " may be described and regarded as genuine works of art. Of course this resuit has only been obtained at a very considérable cost. To both authors and publîshers , however, it has seemed fitting that the illustrations put forth in their name should hâve the merit of being absoluteiy truthful and literal. It was nccessary , above ail , to avoid the pitfall into which most of those concerned with the représentation of

Gooçle

BERNARD Q.UARITCH BOOKSELLER.

antique styles of binding hâve blundered : that is to say, the figuration of originals by means of copies greatly reduced in size.

Reduced by three-fourths — or even , as bas sometimes been the case , by as much as nine-tenths — thîngs sufficiently poor in the way of binding. may be so figured as to look like real miracles of cleverness and skill. In this • • History ' ', excepting in some three instances, in which a slight and unimportant réduction has been carried out . the copies given are of exactly the same size and on exactly the same scale as the originals from which they bave been madc.

With regard to tKe frontispiece of the *' History", it is only necessary to say that it is drawn and etched by Edmond Hédouin , and that its style and accomplishment recall the louch and spirit of the great little masters of the Eighteenth Century.

By the practical expérience of its authors the •* History'' has been made a véritable bibliophilist's guide , indispensable to every one înterested in books and the art of binding them. That it is one of the most costly and splendid of modem publications — a publication really de grand luxe — is sufficîently évident from the quality of its illustrations.