GAÇON-DUFOUR, [Marie Armand Jeanne], ~ Manuel du parfumeur contenant les moyens de confectionner les pâtes odorantes, les poudres de diverses sortes, les pommades, les savons de toilette, les eaux de senteur, les vinaigres extraits, élixirs, essences, huiles, parfums, eau de cologne, odeurs, aromates, cosmétiques, pastilles odorantes, sachets pour les bains, rouge et autres objets de son art, et où se trouve indiqué un grand nombre de compositions nouvelles. Paris [Crapelet for] Roret, Libraire, rue Hautefeuille, 1825.
18mo (135 × 80 mm), pp. [4], 284, [8] (adverts), complete with half-title/advert before title. Contemporary quarter sheep, spine gilt, lettered direct, pink paste-paper sides. Early inkstamp to title of the private collection of the vicomtes du Dresnay. Minor abrasion to the paper on the sides, but a lovely copy.
First edition of this comprehensive pocket guide to the art and craft of the perfumer, including a wide variety of eaux, pommades, scented vinegars, soaps and cosmetic remedies (including toothpaste) almost all derived from plants and flowers. Madame Gaçon-Dufour (1753-c.1835) ‘was co-founder of Bibliothèque Agronomique; novels include L’Homme errant fixé par la raison (1787), Le Préjugé vaincu (1787), Georgeana (1798), Melicrete et Zirphile (1802), and Les Dangers de la prévention (1806); wrote essays in defense of women’s rights, including Mémoire pour le sexe féminin contre le sexe masculin (1787), Contre le projet de loi de S.M. (1801), and De la nécessité de l’instruction pour les femmes (1805); also edited collections of letters, wrote manuals on domestic and rural economy, and published trade manuals for pastry chefs, soap-makers, and perfumiers’ (Dictionary of Women Worldwide, online). Manuel du parfumeur was issued in printed wrappers (preserved in some copies) and with differing publisher’s adverts (or none at all). Ours is without wrappers, but in a pleasing contemporary binding, with eight pages of adverts for Roret’s ‘Collection de manuels formant une Encyclopédie des sciences et des arts. Format in-18’ (including the Manuel du parfumeur priced at 2 francs 50 centimes).