Rare books, manuscripts, music, ephemera…
7th December 2018
Given all the Brexit talk of late, we thought it might be nice to balance things out with a list of books on Britain’s relationship with Europe. And what better book to feature than one printed in Europe by an Englishman? In this latest list we offer…
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13th October 2017
Printed in 1792, this is one of the first publications from the newly inaugurated Convention Nationale, the third government of the French Revolution, and in which English, Scottish and Irish citizens, resident in France, voice their support for the revolutionary government. The revolutionary governance of France had several early incarnations. Following the two-year National Constituent […]
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16th July 2013
As it was Bastille Day recently, I thought I would share this. It’s taken from a very rare little book called Recueil d’hymnes philosophiques, civiques et moraux, compiled by François-Nicolas Parent in around 1798. Dedicated to those living in the countryside, this extraordinary work prints the texts of Republican songs, the ‘Marseillaise’ among them, with the music […]
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13th March 2012
These extraordinary engravings are the last words written by Louis XVI (his will, Christmas Day, 1792) and his wife, Marie-Antoinette (a letter to her sister-in-law, 6 October 1793), turned into silhouettes, probably in the 1830s. I’ll admit it took me a while to find out some information on the engraver, Alphonse Pélicier, who […]
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