Nouvelles et contes 1 1867

This is a volume of "News and Stories" by Alfred de Musset, published in Paris in 1867. The book is materially quite simple: paper pages bound within card covers. Its aesthetic impact comes from the contrast between these humble materials and the fine typography within. Consider the labor involved in its production. The typesetting would have been done by hand, each letter carefully placed. Then the printing itself, a skilled trade. The publisher’s imprint on the title page attests to their role in organizing all of this. The volume speaks to the industrialization of publishing in the 19th century, which allowed for wider dissemination of literature. Yet even with these advances, a book like this would have been a luxury item, something to be savored, connecting the reader to the author and all those involved in its making. By looking closely, we can appreciate the full social and material context of this object.