[Arsenic Collection] Pre-Revolution Morals for Napoleonic Youth : de Flesselles - Les merveilles de la création (1853)

Mme. de Flesselles. Les merveilles de la création mises a la portée de la jeunesse. Limoges; Paris: Chez Martial Ardant Frères, 1853.

(185 x 115mm) 232 pp. Black and white engraved frontispeice and decorated border around title page, with tissue guard. Pale green cardboard binding (cartonnage romantique papier) with color illustration only on front cover and gilt decorations on front and back, with back featuring an embossed floral gilt decoration. Gilt gaffers. Spine faded as expected with this type of dye; end band chipped. Foxing throughout. Currently housed in removable mylar jacket for safety & conservation. Overall GOOD condition.

ABOUT THE TEXT—

From the series “Librairie des Bon Livres”

“There is an age when the need to learn very rarely outweighs that of having fun; and however, it is precisely at this age where notions, ideas, and knowledge becomes embedded, so to speak, in the memory, and directs the opinions.”

Madame la Comtesse Elisabeth de Flesselles (17??- 1828) writes this in the introduction of this book, with its dramatic onlay cover showing the Angel Gabriel smiting Satan. Indeed, Madame de Flesselles believes her religious instruction within these arsenic-bound covers will guide children to “reject with distain the false maxims of insane pride” so that they become “good and religious.“

It’s a fascinating peep into the continued legacy of the pre-Revolution 18^th century mores into middle class, mid-19^th century French childhood.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER— Making Beautiful Books Available To All

Martial Ardant began printing books for the youth in Limoges in 1807, inheriting a local printing business from his wife. He had four children, one of whom was Eugene Ardant. The printing business was passed to Eugene in 1837. In his application for a lithographic patent he applied to “make notable improvements to the number of works [they they had published], for the most part intended for the most numerous and the least fortunate of society.” His other three brothers joined within several decades and the Martial Ardant Frères— named after their father— grew in reputation and production ability. They had two mechanical and 11 or 12 hand pressed, along with a cardboard factory (for their beautiful cartonnages romantiques), a paper factory, and a stereotyping workshop. Their production employed more than 20 independent binders in Limoges.

ABOUT THE BINDING— Beautiful but Deadly

The emerald green pigment of on the binding of this book is due to the use of copper acetoarsenite— the cloth contains arsenic. Arsenic was used as a colouring agent for book bindings particularly between the 1840s to the 1860s. Often embellished with gold and blind stamping, as with this example, these bindings appear shiny or coated.