"SHE LOVES TO PLEASE, SAYS AGREEABLE THINGS TO EVERYBODY"

(MARIE ANTOINETTE) NOLHAC, Pierre de. Marie Antoinette, The Queen. Paris and London: Goupil (Jean Boussod, Manzi, Joyant); Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, (1897). Tall quarto (10 by 13 inches), contemporary three-quarter red morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, uncut. $3000.

First edition in English of French historian Nolhac's important biography of Queen Marie Antoinette, richly illustrated with 29 full-page plates by Goupil, including a beautiful hand-tinted color frontispiece portrait of Marie Antoinette, handsomely bound by Truslove and Hanson.

Onetime curator of the Palace of Versailles, Pierre de Nolhac is remembered for his creation of the museum there, for the restoration of the gardens, and, by way of his publications, "for bringing back to life the spirit of the former glories of the royal residence" (Arthur Griggs). In this biography of Marie Antoinette, Nolhac tells the story of a Queen, but also the story of a woman. "She seemed born to please the national taste," he writes, "brilliant, lively, witty, fond of pleasure and festivity, with all her husband's goodness and a special grace of her own." Featuring color frontispiece and 28 lovely full-page engraved portraits, historical scenes and vistas are from contemporary portraits and paintings. With engraved ornamental head- and tailpieces. Preceded by the 1890 French edition.

Plates and text fine, mild tone to cloth boards, expert repairs to joints and spine ends. A handsome volume.