This stunning little French book was published in 1823 in Paris. The title La Guirlande Des Dames 9e année roughly translates as A Garland of Women, 9th year. It was an annual release and is bound in pretty pink paper with black decoration to the boards and spine.
Inside, it features approximately 150 pages of text, 8 pages of musical scores. It's illustrated with a vignette on the title page, 6 full-page plates and 12 finely engraved and hand coloured allegorical headpieces. It is a charming collection of prose and verse intended to be sung to melodies popular at the time, with the musical scores included in the appendix.
It's in good condition but there is rubbing and minor marking to the boards. The corners are worn and crushed, and there are some chips to the paper around the board edges. The spine is lightly sunned, with wear and minor loss/splitting to the surface of the paper around the spine edges and ends.
The pages show scattered foxing and age toning, with occasional small stains. The text and illustrations are clean and bright.
Dimensions approximately 12cm x 8cm x 1.4cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned paper and ribbon.
I use a range of eco friendly, 100% recyclable jiffy bags and boxes, and whenever possible I use brown paper tape. The green bubble wrap is biodegradable and the clear bubble wrap is 100% recyclable. I also reuse boxes when I feel it's appropriate (if the boxes are sturdy enough).