1858 "Histoire de France" book [French]

A handsome little black book from 1858. The spine is smooth black leather, ruled in gilt bands with the author and title stamped in gold, and a small gilt "8" near the base. The boards are covered in black paper mottled with ivory — it reads almost like polished stone from across a room. Open the cover and the endpapers are the best part: deep blue veining swirled over warm ochre, the kind of hand-marbled paper you only find on old bindings.

Inside is Volume VIII of Laurentie's Histoire de France, second edition, printed in Paris by Lagny Frères on rue Garancière in 1858. Pierre-Sébastien Laurentie was a well-known French royalist writer, and this volume covers the Bourbon Restoration — the pages fall open on the trial of Louvel and the unrest of 1820. The paper has gone soft cream with light foxing, and the text block is still tight.

The corners are bumped and the leather is rubbed at the spine ends, which is exactly what makes it look collected rather than bought. Good on its own, better in a stack.

Dimensions: 7" H x 4 3/4" W

Medium: Letterpress on laid paper; quarter black leather over mottled paper boards, gilt-tooled spine, marbled endpapers

Age: 1858

Origin: Paris, France — Lagny Frères, Éditeurs, Rue Garancière, 8; printed at Saint-Cloud, Imprimerie de Mme Vve Belin

Signature/mark: None

Disclosures: Sold as-is in antique condition, over 165 years old; one volume only (Tome VIII) — 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 bumped, rubbed corners with the board edges showing through; marbled boards are scuffed; interior is clean and readable with scattered foxing and light toning throughout (see photos)