Only 100 sets printed.
GAVAULT, Paul (preface by). Les Livres de l’Enfance du XVième au XIXième Siècle. Paris En Vente à la Librairie Gumuchian et Cie. 1930

4to. 2 vols. (Texte et Planches; Text & Plates); publisher’s pictorial cream wrappers with delightful onlaid handcoloured paper labels to both upper covers, top edges plain, others untrimmed; pp. [xxiv], 446, [3, ads]; ii, 336 pp. (plates); volume I with one fine coloured plate illuminated in gilt; volume II printed throughout on fine Japon with a full-colour frontispiece illuminated in gilt and fine photogravure illustrations in half-tones, with hand-colouring to correspond to the colouring in the original books (unless otherwise stated), and with illumination; a wonderful example of this scarce set in original condition with some unavoidable paper nicking and slight creasing to spine ends and a small and careful vertical paper relaying to head of spine of Volume I (5cm x 1cm); internally in wonderfully clean condition throughout with only a touch of light spotting to untrimmed block edges; a superior set, very rarely encountered in this pretty, but vulnerable, publisher’s binding.

First edition de luxe of this pioneering and beautiful bibliographic achievement: one of only 100 numbered sets printed on Holland paper, of which this is number 89. 900 sets were also printed on papier vélin.

This seminal set includes full cataloguing for 6251 antiquarian French and English children’s books, with the French volumes described in French and the English books in English, alongside prices in French Francs. This is Gumuchian’s famous catalogue 13, the greatest of rare bookseller’s catalogues in the field of children’s literature and a fascinating and important work of reference: “This catalogue represents an attempt, the first of its kind, to present to booklovers a collection of early juvenile literature.” (Introduction).