1828 "Oeuvres de N.F. Bellart" book [French]

A black leather book from 1828, bound the old way with four raised bands running across the spine. The leather is pebbled and still has a soft shine to it. Each panel between the bands is tooled with blind lines, and two of them are stamped in gold — the author's name up top, a "5" down near the base.

The covers are plain black with pale corners worn down to the layer beneath, which is the kind of honest wear that makes a book look lived with. Open it and the endpapers are a treat: hand-marbled in a stone pattern, grey and brown with fine white veining across the whole sheet.

Inside is Volume Five of the collected works of Nicolas-François Bellart, printed in Paris by Brière in January 1828. Bellart was one of the best-known French lawyers of his day and served as procureur général of the Cour royale de Paris. This volume holds his courtroom addresses and indictments, and the publisher's little laurel-wreath "BL" monogram sits right in the middle of the title page.

The text block is tight and the paper has gone soft cream with some age spotting. Good on its own, better in a stack.

Dimensions: 8 1/2" H x 5 1/4" W

Medium: Letterpress on laid paper; pebbled black leather binding over boards, raised bands with blind and gilt tooling, hand-marbled endpapers

Age: 1828

Origin: Paris, France — J.-L.-J. Brière, Libraire-Éditeur, Rue Saint-André-des-Arts, No. 68; printed at the Imprimerie de Decourchant, Rue d'Erfurth, No. 1, près l'Abbaye

Signature/mark: None

Disclosures: Sold as-is in antique condition, nearly 200 years old; one volume only (Tome V) — not a complete set; binding is sound but shows honest age: rubbing and small losses to the leather at the spine head and tail, wear along the joints, and worn corners with the underlayer showing through; interior is clean and readable with scattered foxing and light toning throughout, including a stain to the half-title (see photos)