[Paris], A[drien]. Egron, [nd, but ca. 1810]. 4to (25.2 x 19.3 cm). 34 pp.; ten engraved plates. Contemporary full calf. Spine with gilt lines and burgundy morocco label with gilt title; boards with double gilt borders, gilt-lined edges and inner dentelles; marbled endpapers.

A large-sized collection of beautiful engravings of Apollo and the nine Muses of the ancient Greeks. Works like this one were sold in France in the 18th to early 20th century often in combination with a calendar, which may explain the absence of a true title page (only a simple letterpress title, resembling a half-title). Subjects varied, e.g. on flowers, on being a lady, on famous contemporaries, poetry, and so on, but the gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans were a fashionable subject too. Many of these almanacs were pocket-sized or (much) smaller. Meunié reports a few in octavo or larger, and many in duodecimo, 16mo, 24mo, and 32mo, or even smaller still. Because of their ephemeral character and fine engravings, few have survived intact to our times, and of this particular edition we found no reference. The engravings, by Chaponnier, after drawings by Louis Lafitte, are beautiful. Other editions, engraved by Parfait after Lafitte, are dated around 1806-1807. Apollo and the nine muses are described extensively in the text, and one or more poems are added to each. Spine much rubbed, with some loss at spine ends; some worming in the inner lower margin up to p. 14, otherwise very good. Not in Meunié, Bibliographie de quelques almanachs illustrés des XVIIIe et XIXe siècle.