Recueil de Romances, dediees a ma soeur Adele

1837. Full Morocco. Very Good. Eleven exquisite, highly detailed watercolors of battle scenes, landscapes, waterfronts, etc. 12mo. 16 by 10 cm. 48 leaves, writing on virtually all rectos and versos. Specifically, the watercolors include a portrait of Napoleon, a bucolic landscape with a seraph, a sheperdess in a bucolic setting, a ship in a coastal seascape, a panorama of a botanical garden at Avranche, a hilly panorama, a view of St. St.-Michel, the battles of Waterloo, Montreau and Arcole, a bouquet of flowers. In addition, there are decorative devices, most notably on the title page, and every page is framed by an unique ornamental band. The poetry, all presumably by Caillon, is written in a neat, cursive calligraphic hand. A common thread running through the writing is Normandy and the war, and Caillon pays homage to the former Emperor. Mainly, though, this is a manuscript of extraordinary phyiscal beauty.