WIDOW PUBLISHING WITHOUT PERMISSION – OTHER COPIES PULPED
[Almanac]: Abregé du dictionnaire militaire, pour servir d’etrennes à Messieurs les Officiers, contenant des détails utiles pour ceux qui se destinent à prendre le parti des Armes. Année M. DCC.LIX. A Paris, Chez La Veuve Bordelet, La Veuve David, Duchesne [De l’imprimerie de Gissey], 1759.
A rare and attractively-bound copy of this abridged military almanac, belonging to a print run that was ultimately ordered to be destroyed. Behind this book lies the fascinating story of a widow who tried unsuccessfully to evade the constructions of printing privileges and faced the consequences.
This book was printed by Henri-Simon-Pierre Gissey (d. 1761) and published by the widows of Marc Bordelet (d. 1773; née Marie-Jeanne Largentier) and Michel-Étienne David (d. 1770s; née Anne-Charlotte Delormel) along with Nicolas-Bonaventure Duchesne (d. 1765). Appended is the privilege granted to Michel-Étienne David for printing the Dictionnaire Militaire. However, this privilege did not cover the present abridgement, presented as an almanac. A ruling dated 9 January 1759 shows that David’s widow was fined and forced to close her shop for three months because she produced this edition under the pretext of the existing privilege and without securing new permission. The ruling also accuses her of sending much of the print run to the provinces in order to elude the regulations (pour … éluder l’exécution des règlemens). Remaining copies were to be pulped (mis au pilon).
Our copy is notable for its attractive gold-tooled goatskin binding, with an intricate pastoral scene to both covers featuring a woman in a voluminous dress eating grapes. Interestingly, this binding is very similar to that of the BNF copy, suggesting a degree of binding standardization among the portion of the print run that escaped pulping. The text contains a short almanac for 1759 followed by various reference information relating to the military, such as a list of troops in France with descriptions of their uniforms (p. 246 onwards). At the front, there is a two-page publisher’s advertisement for other almanacs and their prices (‘Catalogue d’Almanachs nouveaux qui se trouvent chez Duschesne’).
Details
Printed. One volume, 12.1 x 6.4 cms in binding, duodecimo, pp. 312. Woodcut headpiece and other section divisions. Bound in red/brown goatskin over boards, both covers tooled in gold with elaborate scene depicting a shepherd beside woman eating grapes in front of architectural backdrop, gold-tooled lettering to second spine compartment (DICTIO MILITA), gold-tooled decoration to remaining spine compartments, gilt sides and dentelles, all edges gilt. Marbled pastedowns and endpapers.
Condition (textblock): light browning, foxing, and spotting to paper; small flaw in sig. F3 affecting final letter of seven lines. Condition (binding): Gold fading slightly; some wear at spine, one corner, and sides. Slight crack and delamination to leather at inner margin of front cover, likely caused by hard edge of stamp.
BNF no. FRBNF45405211. Outside the BNF, OCLC shows only one further copy (Society of the Cincinnati Library). We note in the University of Aberdeen a copy of Abregé du dictionnaire militaire (1759), apparently not the same edition.
Cf. Arrest du Conseil d’État du Roi, qui Supprime un Oovrage intitulé, Abrégé du Dictionnaire militaire […] Paris: Imprimerie royale, 1759 (i.e. FRBNF33697883).