BERTHOUD (Ferdinand). De la mesure du temps, ou... Lot 9

BERTHOUD (Ferdinand). De la mesure du temps, ou supplément au traité des Horloges marines, et à l'essai sur l'Horlogerie... A Paris, chez Mérigot le jeune, 1787. In-4, red morocco, spine with 5 ornate nerves, framed with 3 wires and a small fleuron on the covers with gilded emblems on a green morocco title-piece in the center of the covers, inside teeth, gilded edges (contemporary binding). Important and rare work on clockmaking, containing 11 folding engraved plates out of text. A superb copy, featuring an allegorical composition on a green morocco piece attached to the center of the boards: ship, lighthouses, with a woman holding an anchor in her right hand and a pike topped by a Phrygian cap in the other, with the inscription: "Marine de la Répu. Française". Gruel (Manuel de l'Amateur de Reliure, vol II, p. 152-153) reproduces this composition and says that one of the first bookbinders in Paris, citoyen Petit (relieur de la Marine), was commissioned by Bradel to make this new mark of emblems of the Republic, often masking old coats of arms. This does not seem to be the case here: the binding is typically This does not seem to be the case here: the binding is typically Louis XVI in decoration, the endpapers date from the time of the Revolution, the simple and elegant decorations do not seem to have been made, despite the beauty of the skin, to receive princely arms, they are however perfectly suited to a work belonging to the "Marine Nationale", moreover no trace of old coats of arms is perceptible to the touch. A PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL COPY, VERY FRESH.