Antique 1845 Thiers Histoire Du Consulat Et De L'Empire, 6 Volumes

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Adolphe Thiers's Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire was one of the great historical publishing events of nineteenth-century France — … Read more Adolphe Thiers's Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire was one of the great historical publishing events of nineteenth-century France — a sweeping narrative of the Napoleonic era written by a man who had twice served as Prime Minister of France and would go on to become the first President of the Third Republic. Drawing on privileged access to Napoleon's own papers and the testimony of surviving officers, Thiers set out to chronicle the rise of the Consulate through the height of the Empire, and the work became the standard popular history of the period for generations of French readers. This set was printed in Brussels by the Société Typographique Belge (Ad. Wahlen et Compagnie) in 1845, one of the Belgian editions that circulated alongside the original Paris printing.

A matching set of six quarter-leather bound volumes, numbered 1 through 6 to the spine. Each volume is uniformly bound with brown leather spines divided by raised bands, tooled in gilt with diamond centerpieces, decorative borders, and small gilt stars, with the title and volume number lettered in gilt, over marbled paper boards. Wear is consistent with age throughout — rubbing and scuffing to the spines and chipping at the head and tail caps — and Volume 4 has a split at the lower spine with a small area of loss exposing the binding cords. Text blocks show scattered foxing and toning typical of the period. A handsome, well-used set that displays beautifully together on a shelf. See less