Marie Antoinette | Registre du Conseil de la Reine, an armorial binding for Marie Antoinette

[Marie Antoinette]

Registre du Conseil de la Reine

Folio (400 x 237 mm), blank leaves, margins ruled in red, handwritten letter addressed to William Waldorf Astor from Librairie Techener dated 1897 pasted to front pastedown, contemporary red morocco gilt royal binding for Marie Antoinette, her coat of arms gilt-stamped to upper and lower covers, triple gilt fillet with her monogram angled at corners, spine elaborately gilt with foliate tooling, monogram gilt, extremities rubbed, staining to upper cover

A HANDSOME EXAMPLE OF A ROYAL BINDING FOR MARIE ANTOINETTE, BEARING HER COAT OF ARMS. A letter addressed to William Waldorf Astor explains that he is the first to be offered the volume, which is described as "a beautiful specimen of a binding with the arms of Marie Antoinette".

The Conseil de la Reine was the administration charged with managing the Maison de la Reine (the Queen's Household). During the reign of Marie Antoinette, it was led by the Queen's lady-in-waiting, Madame de Lamballe, and employed almost as many staff as the Maison du Roi. The Conseil de la Reine would have noted down the affairs of the Queen's Household in such a registre: a detailed record of the goings-on of Marie Antoinette's infamously decadent lifestyle at Versailles.

Librairie Techener blames the emptiness of this registre on the political events unfolding in the late 1780s: "This precious volume, which should have contained the records of the Queen's Council, was never used, the Revolution having undoubtedly stopped its use." The volume thus stands both as a symbol of Marie Antoinette's extravagant taste, and of the interruption of her reign.

PROVENANCE:

Acquired by William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, from Librairie Techener, Paris in 1897, letter pasted to front pastedown; thence by descent

LITERATURE:

Olivier, Hermal et Roton, Manuel de l’amateur de reliures armoriées françaises, Pl. 2508