CANDEILLE (A.-J.). Agnès de France... Paris, Maradan, 1821, - Lot 73

CANDEILLE (A.-J.). Agnès de France... Paris, Maradan, 1821, 3 vol. in-8°, speckled calf, ornate ribbed spines, marbled edges (Bound by Simier). Collation : T. I : 1 f. de faux-titre, frontispiece, 1 f. de titre, 1 f. de dédicace ("À Madame La Duchesse de Duras"), 2 f. d'avertissement ch. [Vii] à X, 248 pp., 1 f. d'errata / T. II : 1 f. de faux-titre, 1 f. de titre, 325 pp. / T. III : 1 f. de faux-titre, 1 f. de titre, 349 pp. FIRST EDITION. With Agnès de France, his second historical novel, Candeille (1767-1834) turns his attention to another forgotten female figure in French history, Duchess Agnès de France (1260 or 1265-1325). Her novel did not meet with unanimous approval, with liberal newspapers refusing to promote it and only the royalist press mentioning the book. Through the painter Girodet, she solicited the support of Bertin l'Aîné, director of the Journal des débats, but not a single line was devoted to her in his paper. A frontispiece by the painter Girodet (1767-1824). The author appeared in Girodet's life around 1806; she played the role of artistic agent for him, but more than that, she was actually involved in Girodet's creative process. Naturally, she entrusted Girodet with the task of creating an illustration for her novel. It was on the painter's advice that she asked Pierre-Michel Adam to interpret it. A painter of the aristocracy, Girodet offered an Amazon to the Duchesse de Berry when she came to see his Galatea in his studio. In 1823, in gratitude, the duchess presented him with a chased vermeil vase, decorated with two bas-reliefs based on two compositions by Girodet. A copy bearing the coat of arms of Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Siciles (1798-1870), duchess of Berry, bound by Simier, probably René; her son Alphonse succeeded her definitively in 1827. Some of the usual freckling. Traces of wear to the spine ends, more pronounced at the tail of the upper board of volume III. Spotted corners. Dimensions : 209 x 120 mm. Provenances: Duchesse de Berry (Cat., 1837, no. 1001), with her bookplate; J.-Cl. Da Rocha Carneiro, with his bookplate (T. II). Galantaris (Chr.), "La duchesse de Berry et la passion des livres", in Entre cour et jardin. Marie-Caroline, duchesse de Berry, Musée de l'Ile-de-France, Sceaux, 2007, pp. 87-96.