LASTEYRIE (Charles-Philibert de). Unpublished autograph lett - Lot 284

LASTEYRIE (Charles-Philibert de). Unpublished autograph letters of Henry IV. Paris, s.d. [1817]. In-4, leaves. First edition of this work, entirely lithographed by Lasteyrie, containing a fine portrait of the sovereign after Gérard, a title, a dedication and 10 facsimiles of autograph letters. (De Senefelder à Daumier, les débuts de l'art lithographique, no. 29, gives the date as 1816). In his dedication to Comte de Cazes, Minister Secretary of State for the Department of General Police, Lasteyrie (1759-1849) refers to the progress of lithography, a technique invented by Aloys Senefelder in 1796: "A new Art, lithography, promises," he says, "great advantages for Administration, Science and the Arts. Your Excellency [...] has hastened to encourage it in its cradle, and has commissioned me to set up presses for the use of his Ministry. I take the liberty of offering the first product of this nascent establishment to its founder. Stamp of the Marcel Lecomte library. Some light foxing, wetness at the top of the portrait.