Description:
Choix de Chansons compiled by Jean-Benjamin de Laborde
J. Lemonnyer Bookseller in Rouen, 1881, Quarto, 2 ff + 150 + (3) pages. Volumes 3 & 4 of the reprint on Vergé paper of the superb 1773 edition of a selection of songs with scores by Jean Benjamin de Laborde (1734-1794) familiar with Louis XV and the Du Barry. For Volume 1, De Laborde had begun the illustrations with Jean-Michel Moreau (1741-1814), but he collaborated with Le Bouteux, Le Barbier and Saint-Quentin for the other 3 volumes. In addition to the front cover and the title page, there is a frontispiece in this volume (bound after the title page), and 25 intaglio engravings by Le Bouteux, Le Barbier and Saint-Quentin.
Condition: The two books were clearly damaged in a fire. The boards are in poor condition, and the edges are singed. There is some staining around the margins of some of the pages- more in Vol. 3 than Vol. 4. - but many other pages show little or no damage. Please see the photos...
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