Souvenirs de Mme de Pontalby — Fr. Joubert — 1880 French Cartonnage

A lovely French memoir, Souvenirs de Mme de Pontalby, dernière survivante des demoiselles de la Maison Royale de Saint-Cyr, collected and published by Fr. Joubert. Published in Tours by Alfred Mame et Fils in 1880, the work preserves the recollections of Marie-Élisabeth de Pontalby, a former pupil of the historic Maison Royale de Saint-Cyr, the celebrated school for young noblewomen established under Louis XIV.

The volume is beautifully housed in its original blue, white, and gilt embossed cartonnage binding. The front board features a charming color pictorial panel of young girls, while the reverse displays an elegant central floral design. The book includes a finely engraved frontispiece and offers a fascinating first-person perspective on Saint-Cyr and nineteenth-century French cultural history.

Binding tight. Some rubbing and wear noted at spine ends, corners, and board edges.The colorful and gilt decoration remains bright and highly attractive.

This is a quintessential example of French decorative publishing in the mid-19th century — combining literary charm with elaborate gilt artistry and a hand-painted vignette. Such bindings were often produced as treasured gift books, making them highly sought after by collectors of cartonnage and fine French literature.

Size: 4 1/2” x 7 1/4”

A beautiful and unusual French cartonnage volume for collectors of women’s history, French memoirs, Saint-Cyr, and decorative nineteenth-century bindings.