Paris a Table

Briffault, Eugene. Paris a Table. J Hertzel: Paris, 1846.

BRIFFAULT, Eugène. [Eugène-Victor (1799-1854)]

Paris a Table

Paris: Publié par J. Hetzel, 1846, 1846. First Edition. Printed by Schneider & Langrand, Paris.  Frontispiece and 120 in text illustrations by Bertall.

Octavo (205x135mm) quarter bound dark burgundy/brown morocco, flat spine gilt ruled, decorated and lettered, marbled boards and end-papers; top-edges gilt, other edges untrimmed, marker ribbon; [8, half-title, second half-title, frontispiece, title-page],iv,184,[2]pp.

Late nineteenth century binding.  Joints and spine head and tail lightly rubbed, light wear; boards edges lightly worn; even age-toning to first half-title; occasional faint foxing, edges slightly soiled.  Small bookplate "Ex Libris Jacques & Helene Bon" to front paste-down.

Briffault, a theater critic, journalist, chronicler, gourmand, and bon-vivant (apparently renowned for his ability to quaff a magnum of champagne in a single draught) wrote authoritatively about the culinary culture of Balzac's Paris in the early nineteenth century.  A distinctly funny and somewhat satirical/ironic survey of Parisian dining habits and practices from the opulence of a dinner with Talleyrand to the burgeoning restaurant scene, the bourgeoisie, banqueting, etc... down to the laborer eating on the streets and even the plight of "people who do not dine." Rich with culinary anecdotes, reinforced by wonderful illustration, Paris a Table is a significant landmark in and window into French gastronomic history.

Bertall [Charles Albert d'Arnoux (Charles Constant Albert Nicolas, Vicomte d'Arnoux, Count of Limoges-Saint-Saëns) (1820-1882)] was a prolific French nineteenth century illustrator, engraver, caricaturist, and early photographer.


A very nice copy.


§  Bitting p.60; Cagle 97; Vicaire 115; Simon, BG 252; not in Oberlé.