BOURGEOIS, Émile. Le grand siècle. Louis XIV - The arts - Id - Lot 35

BOURGEOIS, Émile. Le grand siècle. Louis XIV - The arts - Ideas. Published in Paris by Hachette et Cie in 1896. In-folio, full cherry basane, spine with five faux nerfs set with gilt garlands, cold-stamped coffers adorned with a gilt crown, boards richly decorated with a central cold-stamped sun, framed by a wide gilt fleurdelysé band separated by cold-stamped crowns, blue paper endpapers and paste-downs, all edges gilt. XVI and 483 pages, numerous photogravure illustrations in black and white, as well as 22 off-text portraits under serpents, including a frontispiece portrait of Louis XIV. Some headbands, ornamented lettering and endpapers. Title printed in blue, black and red, with engraved vignette. Spine faded, covers, nerves and corners rubbed, a few scratches on the boards, a tear on the first cover. The first edition is accompanied by a very rich iconography produced by photogravure from period documents and engravings, including 22 hors-texte portraits. The historian Émile Bourgeois (1857-1934), a great specialist of the 17th century, provides an exhaustive overview of the "Grand siècle", based on texts by Voltaire, Saint-Simon, Spanheim, Dangeau, Madame de Sévigné, Choisy, La Bruyère, Laporte, Le Mercure de France, La Princesse Palatine, etc. A superb publication printed on large white vellum and strong vellum for the hors-texte. Luxurious publication on the Grand Siècle in a fine decorative binding.