[Arsenic Collection] Middle Class Conspicuous Consumption : Lebon -Mosaïque Chrétien (1855)

LEBON, Hubert. Mosaïque Chrétien: Littérature, Morale, Histoires, Légends. Paris & Limoges: Chez Martial Ardant Fréres, 1855. (290 x 200 mm) 192 pp. Sepia toned frontispeice and title page with historiated rondelle. Four inset engravings and embellished throughout with historiated initials and endpeices. Dark green percaline cloth binding with polychromed stamped decoration (includes pale green insets). ABOUT THE TEXT —  From the series “Librairie des Bons Livres” This Christian Mosaic demonstrates the Eugene Ardant’s goal of making fine and improved books accessible to the middle class of France. Combining history with religious instruction for a piece of middle class conspicuous consumption, the beautifully bound (using arsenic-derived Paris Green for detail work) book includes luxurious-seeming touches, like historiated initials with holy scenes incorporated into the decoration around the letter. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER— Making Beautiful Books Available To All Martial Ardant