MARCHANT, François. La Constitution en vaudeville, suivie de - Lot 232

MARCHANT, François. La Constitution en vaudeville, suivie des Droit de l'homme, de la femme & de plusieurs autres vaudevilles constitutionnels. Published in Paris by the Libraires Royalistes in 1792. In-16 à la bradel, half-garnet long-grain morocco, gold lettering on smooth spine, combed paper lining and endpapers, bookmark preserved. Later binding (19th century). 160 pages, copper-engraved frontispiece. Slight scuffing to first cover. Very rare spotting. First edition decorated with a copper-engraved frontispiece, here before the letter, depicting a patriot playing émigrette. The faux-title reads: "Almanach civique pour l'année 1792." The work opens, in the manner of a classical almanac, with the Epître dédicatoire à MM. les émigrés, the eclipses and the calendar for the year 1792, as well as the four seasons. The rest of the volume consists of verse pieces mocking the institutions of the new Republic, each accompanied by the tune to which it is to be sung. These include: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen; Abolition of the Nobility; Abolition of red and blue cords, etc.; Abolition of religious vows; Admission of all citizens to positions and employment of any kind; Equal punishment for all offenses... "One of the wittiest of the many parodies of the period", according to Carteret (Almanachs Français, no. 1054). A charming copy of this original, witty publication, which belongs in the category of counter-revolutionary pamphlets.