Mercure de France
Unknown Artist
1771
Medium
Leather, paper
Dimensions
Overall: 6 5/8 × 4 × 3/4 in. (16.8 × 10.2 × 1.9 cm)
Classification
Books and book bindings
Culture
French, Paris
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2007
Accession Number
2007.492
Tags
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the enchanting world of 18th-century French decorative arts with *Mercure de France* (1771), a leather-bound volume from Paris. This edition of France's oldest literary magazine, founded in 1672, the intellectual vibrancy of the Ancien Régime under Louis XV. *Mercure de France* poetry, drama, and news, serving as a cultural touchstone for the elite, blending literature with Enlightenment ideas just before the Revolution. Crafted from leather and paper, the binding measures a compact 6⅝ × 4 × ¾ inches, perfect for a gentleman's pocket library. As a highlight of bookbinding artistry,...