GENLIS Stéphanie Félicité du Crest, comtesse de Les Veillées du château, ou cours de morale à l’usage des enfans. Par l’auteur d’Adèle et Théodore.

First edition.

The Countess de Genlis was born near Autun in Burgundy on 25 February 1746. "She became lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Chartres in 1770, and was responsible for the education of the princess's daughters and, soon afterwards, the three young princes, her sons. It was during this period that she published her first works, Théâtre d'éducation (1779), Adèle et Théodore (1782) and Veillées du château (1784). The way in which she conceived and directed the education of the children of Orléans," said Sainte-Beuve, "is extremely remarkable, and shows in the teacher a more practical sense of reality than her books would seem to indicate" (see : Institut Français de l'éducation).

Her works published under Louis XVI, before 1789, are all directly related to education. Les Veillées du château, despite too much romance, remains in a flowing and clear style, and is remarkable for its portraits of the society of the time.

A very fine copy despite minor scuffing on the covers of volume III, bound at the time for the Rohan-Chabot family and decorated with their armorial pieces.