This charming book contains a collection of minutely depicted watercolour drawings created to help a young French aristocrat learn the alphabet in the period shortly after the French Revolution. First compiled by his Uncle Arnaud in 1814, this book brings alive the education and everyday life of the two year old Alfred. The beautiful drawings give fascinating views into the family château and its surrounds, Alfred's clothing, his pastimes and his instruction in polite manners, music, and the arts. The pages are full of amusing puns and now obscured meanings and offer an insight into Alfred's life of enchantment and privilege. The French captions are translated into the English of the period.
Dimensions: 23.5cm x 17cm and 1.5cm. Hardcover.
