PIEDAGNEL (Alexandre). A Parisian bookseller. Le Père Lécureux. Paris : Librairie ancienne et moderne Édouard Rouveyre, 1878. - In-8, 203 x 136 : frontispiece, 68 pp, (2 ff. last blank). Bradel dark brown half-maroquin with corners, smooth spine, untrimmed (E. Carayon). First edition at 510 copies, illustrated with a frontispiece drawn and engraved by Maxime Lalanne. Alexandre Piedagnel was the secretary of Jules Janin. He proposes in this short work, a tribute to the father Lécureux (1795-1875), a Parisian bookseller who had the particularity to sell essentially mismatched books. This poor man was for more than half a century "the humble providence of bibliophiles and bibliomaniacs", and died almost in indifference. It is to repair this oblivion that he composed this short biography mixed with memories. Piedagnel's account is preceded by a reprint of a text by the author on Jules Janin, and followed by a poem by Fertiault as well as a reprint of a letter from Abbé Mercier de Saint-Léger concerning a project to establish a collection of unmatched books. The volume ends with a list of Piedagnel's works and those in progress at the Rouveyre bookstore. ONE OF THE 4 FIRST COPIES ON PARCHMENT, this one bearing the number 1. Spine and top of the boards slightly faded, some rubbing from use. The frontispiece is disbound.