Paris, 1740

ROYAL SPECTACLES – Description des festes données par la ville de Paris, à l'occasion du mariage de Madame Louise-Elisabeth de France, & de Dom Philippe, Infant & Grand Amiral d'Espagne. Paris: de l’imprimerie de P.G. Le Mercier, 1740.

Festival book depicting the wedding of the Dauphine Louise-Elisabeth to Philippe de Bourbon, illustrated by Blondel. The daughter of King Louis XV was married by proxy to the Spanish Infante at the age of 12; the festivities were deliberately reigned in to avoid stealing the limelight from her brother's first wedding celebration, which would occur in 1745. Any restraint is not apparent here, however; the documented festivities included a naumachia on the Seine, fireworks, floating illuminations, and a fabulous ball.Watanabe 2078.

Folio (619 x 460mm). 13 engraved plates by Blondel, 8 of which double-page; engraved head-and tail-pieces. Contemporary French red morocco gilt, with the arms of the city of Paris on both boards. Provenance: Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851-1925; bookplate, his sale, Christie's London, 25 June 1986, lot 37).