Trade Card and Price List of Jacques François Quillau, Bookseller
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Trade card of Jacques François Quillau, bookseller (libraire), after lettering, designed etched and engraved by Augustin de Saint-Aubin and dated 1761. Extensive inscription on the verso including price list, probably in the hand of Quillau. The image is etched and the text is engraved. The design consists of a drapery bearing the text, and a representation of goods in an interior. The whole is surrounded by a thin rule. Saint-Aubin's name appears beneath the rule at lower left.
The drapery is pinned with studs to two book cabinets that flank the scene, at upper left and right. The cabinets are decorated with panelling demarcated with fillets terminating in scrolls and roundels. A flying putto lifts the drapery at upper left to reveal bookshelves behind.
Three wingless, naked putti are shown looking at books on the shelves, one to the right, and two in the left background. Further books are shown piled on the floor in front of the drapery. Two books on the left bear the words 'Bible' and 'Histoire' on their spines. A sheet of paper next to these books bears the words 'Theologie, Jurisprudence, Poesie, Voyages'. An open book propped up behind bears the words 'Sciences et Arts Belle'. An open book at lower centre bears the text 'Theatre Divers'. An open book at lower right bears the word 'Roman'. At lower centre, a partially draped wingless putto reclines whilst reading a book.
Curatorial commentary
- For the proof before lettering see 3686.1.79.158.
- A card in the Musée Carnavalet, for the print and bookseller Rapilly of 1884, reproduces this card [IMITATION]. See Scott in Documentation.
- Saint-Aubin was approved by the Académie Royale in 1771, but failed to submit his reception piece so did not become a full academician.
- Phillippa Plock, 2008
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
94 x 122
Physical details
single sheet, plate mark size: 84 x 112, image size: 70 x 101
Signature & Date
signed and dated in the plate, lower left: Augustin de St. Aubin inv. et sculp. 1761
Inscriptions
Quillau fournis en Lecture tous les livres / de son magazin, consistant en Théologie, / Jurisprudence, Science et arts, Medicine et / Chiurgie, Belles Lettres, Théatre, Histoire, / Noveaux et Voyager Etc / Pour 24 [livres] par an ou 3 [livres] par moin / Il fournira aussi à ses abonner / la Lecture des livres des Théatre et des livres / Noveaux
Inscription
on verso, pen and ink (probably hand of Jacques François Quillau)
Translation of inscription
Quillau provides for reading all the books of his shop, consisting of Theology, Jurisprudence, Science and arts, Medicine and Surgery, Literature, Theatre, History, Novels and Travel literature etc For 24 livres per year or 3 livres a month. He will also provide to his subscribers for reading Theatre books and new books
Transcription
JACQUES FRANCOIS QUILLAU, / LIBRAIRIE, / Rue Christine, Faubourg S. Germain. / Vend, Loue et Achête des / Livres tant anciens que / Nouveaux sur toutes / sortes de Matières / A PARIS. / BIBLE / HISTOIRE / Theologie / Jurisprudence / Poesie / Voyages / Sciences et / Arts / Belle / THEATRE DIVERS / ROMAN / Augustin de St. Aubin inv. et sculp. 1761
Translation
Jacques François Quillau, bookseller, rue Christine, Faubourg Saint-Germain. Sells, lends and buys old and new books on all sorts of subjects. In Paris. Bible, History, Theology, Jurisprudence, Poetry, Travel, Sciences and Fine Arts, Miscellaneous Plays, Novel, Augustin de Saint-Aubin designed and carved [etched and engraved this]. 1761
Language
French
Part of
- Recueil d'adresses: A collection of sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century French, German, Belgian, Swiss, Dutch, Italian and Spanish trade cards, labels, wrappers, advertisements and related commercial ephemera bound in four volumes. 3686.1-4
Provenance
- Owned by Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur (b.1822, d.1893); included in sale of Destailleur's library, Damascène Morgand (b.1840, d.1898), Paris, 13 April 1891, part of lot no. 351, 'Recueil d'Adresses, Cartes de visite, Billets de Bal, Brevets Militaires, etc. En un vol. in-fol., velin. Recueil des plus importants comprennant 355 pieces, adresses, billets d'invitation, titres de livres, brevets militaries, assignats, etc. Adresses au nombre de 220 des XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles' (price paid for volume: 2,700 FF); acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898); inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); bequeathed to Waddesdon The Rothschild Collection (The National Trust) in 1957.
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957
Bibliography
- Roger Portalis, Henri Béraldi; Les graveurs du dix-huitième siècle (1880-82); 3 vols; New York; Burt Franklin; 1970; vol. 3, pp. 464-65, no. 185; describes an example in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, with a note which may refer to the Waddesdon example: 'Au dos d'une eprueve que nous avons vue, le librarire a ajouté de sa main: "Quillau fornit en lecture tous les livres de son magazin sur toutes sortes de matières et les livres nouveux. Pour 24 ll par an ou 3 ll par mois"'
- Edmond de Goncourt; La Maison d'un Artiste; Paris; G. Charpentier; 1881; vol. 2, p. 180; mentions an example of the card
- Emmanuel Bocher; Les Gravures françaises du XVIIIe siècle, ou Catalogue descriptif et raisonné des estampes de 1700 à 1800 composant l'œuvre gravé de Augustin de Saint-Aubin; Paris; Librairie des bibliophiles; 1879; p. 138, no. 439; describes an example of the print in both its states. 67 x 100 mm
- Léon Maillard; Les Menus et Programmes illustrés, invitations, billets de faire part, cartes d'adresse, petites estampes, du XVIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours; Paris; G Boudet; 1898; p. 24; describes and illustrates an example of the card
- Damascène Morgand; b.1840, d.1898; Catalogue des livres rares et precieux composant la Bibliothèque de M. Hippolyte Destailleur; 1891; Paris; p. 90, no. 351
- Claude Jolly; Histoire des bibliothèques françaises. Les bibliothèques sous l'Ancien Régime, 1530-1789; Paris; Promodis; 1988; pp. 414-415; illustrates an example from the Bibliothèque Nationale, and discussed in relation to book commerce.
- Katie Scott, The Waddesdon Manor Trade Cards: More than one history, Journal of Design History, 23, 2004, 91-104; p. 104, n. 53; mentions the card
- Phillippa Plock, Now showing: the Waddesdon Manor trade cards, online and in the frame, The Ephemerist: Journal of the Ephemera Society, 141, 2008, 22-28; pp. 24-25, fig. 6
- Phillippa Plock; Advertising Books in Eighteenth-Century Paris: Evidence from Waddesdon Manor's Trade Card Collection; Robin Myers, Michael Harris, Giles Mandelbrote, Books for Sale: The Advertising and Promotion of Print since the Fifteenth Century, London, Oak Knoll Press (Delaware), The British Library, 2009; 87-108; pp. 93-94, 97, fig. 2
Location of premises
- rue Christine, Paris
Trades
- libraire/Book trade activities
Products
- livres anciens (old books)
- livres nouveaux (new books)
- livres de jurisprudence (law books)
- livres de théâtre (books on theatre)
- livres de théologie (books on theology)
- livres des arts (books on the arts)
- livres des sciences (books on the sciences)
- livres des belles-lettres (literature)
- livres d'histoire (history books)
- romans (novels)
- livres des voyages (travel literature)
- livres de médicine (books on medicine)
- livres de chirurgie (books on surgery)
Subject person and role
- Jacques François Quillau, Advertiser
Person as Subject
Research Keywords
- Men as Proprietors/Consumption
- Academies
- Childhood
- Imitation
- Sociability
- Theatre Culture
- Fine Arts
- Variety of Products/Consumption
- Christian Culture
- Viewing
- Ephemera
Subjects
- Mythology/Creatures/Cherub, Putto or Putti
- Figures/Group
- Figures/Child
- Everyday Life/Shopping
- Architecture/Buildings/Domestic
- Work & Occupations/Trade & Commercial/Merchant
- Work & Occupations/Trade & Commercial/Service Provider
- Objects/Shop Goods
- History/Historical Subject
- Interiors/Domestic
- Works of Art, Literature & Music/Works of Literature
- Objects/Furnishings/Soft Furnishings
- Objects/Reading, Writing & Printed Matter/Book
- Objects/Furnishings/Bookcase
- Everyday Life/Solitary Pursuits/Reading & Writing
- Everyday Life/Entertainment/Conversation
- Decorative Motifs & Patterns/Draperies & Ribbons
- Decorative Motifs & Patterns/Figural or Animal Motifs
- Decorative Motifs & Patterns/Panels, Plaques, Medallions
- Decorative Motifs & Patterns/Scroll Motifs
- Objects/Religious & Ceremonial/Bible
Place as Subject
- Paris, France