LANDAIS (Napoleon). Illustrated Alphabet of the general and grammatical dictionary of French dictionaries. At the Central Office, rue des Filles-Saint-Thomas, N° 5. Paris. At all correspondents of the dictionary society, and at all booksellers in France and abroad. 1837. Printed by P. Dupont et comp, rue de Grenelle-St-Honoré, 55. in-4 (28 x 19,5 cm). Faux-title, title, 112 pp : brown half calf, gilt fillets on the spine, marbled paper boards (Binding of the period). First edition, from the first illustrated dictionary of iconophores, ornate mid-page lettering with representations beginning with the same initial. One for each letter of the alphabet, including the W, and designed by lexicographer and grammarian Napoleon Landais (1804-1852). The author drew from his Dictionnaire général et grammatical (1834) this manual whose engravings will help learning. The engraved alphabet is preceded by "Principles of reading" composed of alphabets, syllabaries, exercises, numbers and first readings. The ornate initial is underlined by the letter in different typographies, captioned, and a lexicon of selected words specific to the study - fauna, flora, peoples, etc. The N is dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte with more than six historical pages. The rich ornaments bear the signatures of Wattier and Tellier and are woodcut by V. Duplat and Andrew Best & Leloir, a Parisian engraving workshop. First flyleaf missing, lower corners of some leaves bent, some with small tears without affecting the text. Faint scattered foxing. Provenance: Library of the Château de Laplagne, with bookplate.