1780 Théâtre à l'usage des jeunes personnes | 3 Volumes

Théâtre à l'usage des jeunes personnes (Theatre for the Use of Young People). Published by Chez les Libraires Associés in Switzerland. Published 1780. French Language.

These books are a collection of innovative moral plays written specifically to reform children's education in the 18th century. 

During the 1780s, children were expected to memorize essays on virtue and theology. Madame de Genlis disrupted this system by creating the genre of "closet drama" (theatre of education).

Closet drama consists of short, engaging plays intended to be actively performed aloud by children at home or in private boarding schools, forcing them to physically step into the shoes of moral behavior. 

These three stunning volumes are bound in leather featuring a hand-inked trellis design on the cover boards; the spines feature gold tooling in a motif of flower buds, stars, and flourishes; there are contrasting panels to improve text legibility; endpapers are marbled, and all page edges are red. 

They were printed on cotton rag paper, a high-grade paper made from pulverized textile scraps. Worn cotton garments and even sails were collected, sorted, washed, cut into scraps, and then left in vats to break down the textile fibers. 

Water-powered wooden mallets pounded the fermented cloth into a fibrous pulp. The paper-maker then dipped a flat, wire-mesh sieve into the mixture to capture a thin layer of the fibers. The excess water was removed, and the pages were left to dry. 

If you hold the paper up to the light, you can still see a faint grid called laid lines. These are physical impressions left by the wire-mesh sieve used to make the paper 245 years ago. 

130 mm W x 198 mm H. 

Condition: Good condition. 

Volume II: 397 pages.Some marks on the cover and spine, rubbing on the board edges and corners, and some minor discoloration to the pages. 

Volume III: 360 pages. Some marks on the cover and spine, rubbing on the board edges and corners, and some minor discoloration to the pages. 

Volume IV: 352 pages. Some marks and discoloration to the covers, some wear to the spine and hinges, rubbing on the board edges and corners, and some minor discoloration to the pages.