GENLIS, Stéphanie Félicité, Comtesse de (1746-1830). Arabesques Mythologieques, ou les attributs de toutes les Divinités de la Fable. Paris: Charles Barrois, 1810-1811.

GENLIS, Stéphanie Félicité, Comtesse de (1746-1830). Arabesques Mythologieques, ou les attributs de toutes les Divinités de la Fable. Paris: Charles Barrois, 1810-1811.

2 volumes, 8^o (205 x 122 mm). Half-titles, 78 engraved plates by Gaille, many finished by hand; leaf containing the original paper label to be cut out for the wrappers intact at the end of volume 2. (Some light spotting or browning.) Contemporary quarter calf gilt (lightly rubbed). Provenance: acquired from David O'Neal, 1989.

FIRST EDITION of this highly unusual work. Madame de Genlis was a prolific writer and teacher, and this work was issued to educate about the history of pagan gods. Each plate incorporates the name of a god into the design in cursive and in mirror image. As a result, the names themselves are hidden within the ornament surrounded by the recognized attributes of the god or gods. Gumuchian 2699. (2)