Manuscript catalogue, 1786

[BRUNOY, Madmoiselle la Marquise de.] Bound manuscript, “Catalogue des Livres de Mme. la Marquise de Brunoy. Redigé par Henry, rue St. Jean de Beauvais.” [Paris?,] 1786.

255 pages, 292 x 213mm. Pen-and-ink allegorical titles, frontispiece, and head-pieces preceding each library division and subdivision. Contemporary French red morocco gilt, green morocco titling piece, all edges gilt, silk ribbon bookmark (extremities lightly rubbed).

Fine manuscript catalogue of an aristocratic women’s personal library from pre-revolutionary France.The identity of the bibliophile, Mademoiselle la Marquise de Brunoy, is uncertain; she was almost certainly a descendent of Jean Pâris de Monmartel, Marquis de Brunoy (1690-1766), financier and court banker under Louis XV. The manuscript catalogue lists approximately 270 works, which are entered under the standard subject divisions (and their subdivisions) of the time: theology, jurisprudence, science and arts, belles lettres, and history. Most of the Marquise de Brunoy’s books are in belles lettres, with few holdings in other categories. The calligrapher, Crussaire, signs his name within a charming pen-and-ink roundel, writing: “Ce catalogue à été fait et dessiné à la plume en 1786, par Crussaire, le je. âgé de 24 ans.”