BERNARD, Catherine. ~ Traité complet sur l’education physique et morale des chats. Suivi de l’Art de guérir les maladies de cet animal domestique par Catherine Bernard, portière. Paris: [De Fain] chez l’auteur, 1828.
12mo (156 × 92 mm), pp. [iv], 87, [1], [12] (adverts), complete with ‘Petite Bibliothèque utile et amusante’ half-title. Waterstain to lower forecorner throughout, uncut in the original printed blue wrappers. Rubbed, spine cracked but secure with small losses. A good, unsophisticated copy.
First edition of this rare little treatise of cat lore by an author who describes herself as a portière and which is dedicated to the ‘Dames, veuves et demoiselles françaises et étrangères’. It is full of practical advice on behaviour, diet and health and is proceeded by a literary and historial éloge and ended by a drama for a cast of cats: ‘Les Chats, tragédie lyrique’. One chapter gives detailed instructions for feline taxidermy. Worldcat lists the Penn library copy as the only location outside continental Europe.