(ALMANAC). BRÉE, l’aîné. ~ Cadeau des muses, ou Almanach universel, Étrennes utiles et agréables. [41e. Année.] Année bissextile 1840. Falaise: Levavasseur, successeur de M. Brée, and Marcilly in Paris, [ 1839].
Small 8vo (98 × 60 mm), pp. [3-5], 126, plus two folding leaves before p. [3] with maps, diagrams and letterpress tables. Folding leaves slightly creased. Loose (formerly stitched) in original decorative paper wrappers with printed endpapers.
A rare little almanac, with preliminary charts bearing three woodcut maps (one of the world, one of Europe, the other of France), small celestial charts, tables of longitude and latitude, and an emblematic woodcut frontispiece depicting Urania presiding over the heavens. The text is typical of contemporary almanacs— calendrical and political tables followed by popular songs and verses. Cadeau des muses was published at Falaise (Calvados, Normandy) between 1799 and 1855. All issues are institutionally rare, with Worldcat listing just a small handful of individual issues.