[CHILDREN'S BOOK - FRENCH].
Petite histoire grotesque de Pierrot Goulu.
Paris, Marcilly, typographie de Firmin Didot frères et compagnie, [ca. 1835]. Oblong 32mo (ca. 5.6 x 7.3 cm). With a hand coloured engraved title, and 7 hand coloured full-page engraved plates. Contemporary publisher's pink boards, with the title on the front board, an illustration of Pierrot printed in the centre of the front board, surrounded by an ornamental embossed border, marbled edges. [4], 122, [2] pp.
€ 950
Charming children's miniature book with a moralistic story on the absurd adventures of the gluttonous boy Pierrot, who was born from a turkey's egg. Illustrated with lively hand coloured engravings, the work, divided in 8 chapters, tells the story of how Pierrot cheats, steals, and lies to satisfy his desires, until he meets his untimely, gruesome end. Despite this, the work has been described as "exceptionally lively and amusing" (Bondy), and is fairly rare.
The boards are slightly rubbed, the joints are slightly weakened. A shelf mark label mounted on the back pastedown, many of the leaves are slightly stained. Otherwise in good condition. Bondy, p. 76 ("A very charming harlequinade"); Houghton 283; Spielmann 406; Welsh 5638.
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