"A.D." | Manuscript of Le Piquet..., Paris, 1772, contemporary French red morocco gilt

"A.D."

Manuscript of Le Piquet, ou Essai sur les Principes Généraux de ce Jeu. Paris, 1772

8vo (200 x 149 mm), c.240 pages, (lacking a few pages from the preliminary material), dedication signed "A.D.", two title-pages, one ornamental with a design including a billiard table, cues, playing cards, and chess-board; text within hand-coloured ruled margins in red and green throughout, ornamental head- and tailpieces, poem entitled "Coupllet sur le Picquet", table of contents at end, contemporary French red morocco gilt, French royal coat of arms stamped in gilt on covers (added later), covers with floral cornerpieces, spine tooled in compartments with floral ornaments, gilt edges, marbled endpapers, slightly rubbed and bumped

Presentation manuscript with a dedicatory epistle signed "A.D." to Madame X, with very attractive calligraphy. The text is divided into chapters, with an index. Piquet, one of the oldest card games still being played, was perhaps the most popular card game in France until the early twentieth century.

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's London, 30 July 1991, lot 25