Petite géographie amusante abécédaire nouveau offrant pour chaque lettre de l'alphabet une carte coloriée avec l'explication de chacune d'elles. Paris, P.-

[ABC.]

Published by C. Lehuby, 'Librairie de l'enfance et de la jeunesse', [1851]., 1845

About this Item

Oblong 12mo, pp. [4], 73, [1 (blank)], with half-title, 25 plates comprising maps hand-coloured in outline; engraved initials; small tears to inner margins of half-title and title (not touching text), closed tear (without loss) to pp. 19 20 neatly repaired, some foxing to text leaves, occasional light foxing to plates; overall very good in original purple grained cloth, frames stamped in blind and gilt to covers, spine stamped in gilt, upper cover gilt lettered 'Petite géographie amusante', gilt edges, yellow endpapers; gilding somewhat faded, light wear to extremities, pastedowns renewed, upper hinge split but holding; ticket of 'Mlle S. Meuret, libraire … à Nantes' to front pastedown; pencil note to p. 73.A charming and very rare ABC intended to teach children European geography, from A for Allemagne to Z for Zara in Dalmatia, published just a few years after the upheavals of the revolutions of 1848.The twenty-five attractive plates comprise maps, with a corresponding letter of the alphabet and title, illustrating: the German Confederation; Belgium; Greece and Crete; Denmark; Spain; France; Great Britain; Holland; Italy; the Jura Mountains; the Carpathian Mountains; Lapland; Majorca, Minorca and Malta; the Kingdom of Naples; the Ural Mountains; Prussia; the points of the compass; Russia; Sweden; Turkey; the Swiss canton of Uri; Warsaw; the Júcar river in Spain; the French département of Yonne; and Zadar in modern-day Croatia. The accompanying text provides its young readers with pertinent information on politics, population, provinces and cities, rivers, mountains, and volcanoes.Entertaining titbits are thrown in for good measure, on Spa's famous mineral springs, on the French embassy in faraway Chania, on the loftiness of Mont Blanc, on Napoleon's birthplace, and on Lapland reindeers, Cossacks, and famous Swiss lakes. As one would expect from a Parisian publication, the French capital is described as 'the centre of civilisation, the sciences, and the fine arts', while London is acknowledged as 'the most populous and mercantile [city] in the world' (trans.).The publisher, Pierre-Charles Lehuby (1804 1866), was initially a travelling salesman but in 1833 took over the publishing business of Pierre Blanchard (1772 1856) specialising in juvenile literature. The Petite géographie amusante was listed in the Bibliographie de la France ou journal général de l'imprimerie et de la librairie in September 1851.No copies traced in the UK; only one copy in the US on OCLC, at UCLA. Language: French. Seller Inventory # T5147

Bibliographic Details

Title: Petite géographie amusante abécédaire ...

Publisher: C. Lehuby, 'Librairie de l'enfance et de la jeunesse', [1851].

Publication Date: 1845