10 - PREVOST. Prayers for Salvation for the King’s Chapel.

PREVOST. Prayers for Salvation for the King’s Chapel. Small 8vo manuscript (160 x 103 mm) comprising 22 leaves (including six blank ones) on vellum. No place, no date (Paris, ca. 1725), contemporary binding in blue morocco, with straight gilt lace on the covers featuring a coat of arms in the center, fleurs-de-lis, and a crowned monogram in the corners; ribbed spine decorated with fleurs-de-lis and a crowned monogram; interior lace; pink tabis endpapers and half-leather endpapers; gilt edges; and a blue shagreen slipcase. A RAVISHING AND PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPT DEDICATED BY ITS AUTHOR TO QUEEN MARIE LECZINSKA AND VERY ELEGANTLY BOUND WITH HER COAT OF ARMS. Undoubtedly produced shortly after the Polish princess’s marriage to the young King Louis XV (1725), this delightful manuscript, remarkably calligraphed in brown ink in italics (the dedication to the Queen in roman type), was decorated by its author, Monsieur Prévost, with the utmost finesse. The ornamentation includes: - A superb title calligraphied alternately in blue and gold within an elegant portico-shaped frame, delicately miniaturized in gold and color, featuring birds, garlands, a basket of flowers, a cherub, a censer… - The Queen’s coat of arms presented within a floral setting at the top of the dedication, signed by the author. - A miniature at the top of the *Prayers for Salvation* featuring an arabesque motif in blue, red, and gold, punctuated by birds with red and gold wings fluttering around four cherub heads. - Six large initials painted in gold, one with a floral design; the other five, set within frames of gilded fillets, stand out against five magnificent landscapes executed with extreme delicacy. - Three charming gold-and-color headpieces featuring baskets of flowers and birds. Each page is framed by gilded fillets edged in red. All initials in the text, as well as the chapter and paragraph headings, are rendered alternately in gold and color. The prayers are in Latin, while the titles, headings, and dedication are in French. This exquisite little manuscript was bound at the time—perhaps by one of the king’s official bookbinders, Boyet or Dubois, or perhaps by Padeloup—in a delicate lace-style binding featuring the queen’s coat of arms and monogram. It is preserved in absolutely perfect condition. From the libraries of the Count of Mosbourg (1893) and Robert Hoe (II, 1912, no. 2056, sold for $1,200) with bookplates. “In beauty and refinement of calligraphy, this little prayer book rivals the work of Rousselet, Gilbert, Damoiseau, or Nicolas Jarry” (entry from the Robert Hoe catalog). Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1967.