[FESTIVAL BOOK.] [LOUIS XV, King of France.] Fête publique donnée par la ville de Paris à l’occasion de mariage de Monseigneur le Dauphin le 13 février 1747.

[FESTIVAL BOOK.] [LOUIS XV, King of France.] Fête publique donnée par la ville de Paris à l’occasion de mariage de Monseigneur le Dauphin le 13 février 1747. [Paris: 1747.]

Large folio (630 × 480 mm). Contemporary red morocco, covers with gilt border of flower and tassel roll, fillets, and fleurs-de-lys roll, spine richly gilt in compartments, tooled with fleurs-de-lys, stars, and smaller corner fleurs-de-lys, black morocco lettering-piece to one compartment, gilt edges, gilt turn-ins with flower and fleur-de-lys roll, marbled endpapers, in a late 19th-century marbled slipcase; ff. [8], engraved throughout (title within large decorative border after François Blondel; allegorical frontispiece after Michel-Ange Slodtz, engraved by Jean-Jacques Flipart; six leaves of text within a large decorative border by L. de Lorrain, engraved by Pierre-François Tardieu), with seven double-page engraved plates mounted on guards, signed by Marvye, Le Mire, Tardieu, and Benoist; spine ends and two corners repaired, crack (c. 90 mm) at foot of lower hinge, light staining to boards, scratches to lower cover; light variable toning (especially to page edges) and offsetting, one double-page plate with significant browning, occasional spots or marks, pinhole wormhole to lower outer corner (far from printed surface); overall a very good, clean copy; contemporary signature “Philippe” to verso of the front free endpaper.

First edition of an exquisite festival book, fully engraved throughout and finely bound, recording the celebration offered by the City of Paris for the second wedding of Louis, Dauphin of France – the father of three French kings who was himself never king.

Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765), was the elder and only surviving son of King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczyńska. He first married the Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain (1726-1746), daughter of the King of Spain, in 1744. She died three days after the birth of their only child, Princess Marie Thérèse of France (1746-1748). On 10 January 1747 Louis married, by proxy, Maria Josepha of Saxony (1731-1767), the sixteen-year-old daughter of Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony; a second ceremony followed in person at Versailles on 9 February.

The book records the parade of allegorical chariots and the fireworks display organised by the City of Paris to celebrate the union on 13 February 1747. The double-page plates illustrate five allegorical chariots, four dedicated to classical deities – Mars, Hymen, Ceres, and Bacchus – and a fifth to the City of Paris itself. The plates include a remarkable view of the Place Louis-le-Grand (today Place Vendôme), animated with numerous figures and the ceremonial procession, showing at the centre of the square the equestrian statue of Louis XIV, later destroyed during the French Revolution. The final double-page plate depicts the temporary structure erected in front of the Hôtel de Ville, known as the “Temple of Hymen”, from which the fireworks display was launched.

Although Louis died before ascending the throne, all three of his sons with Maria Josepha who reached adulthood would reign as kings of France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X.

Cohen-De Ricci 393.

SKU: 2124413