Almanach De Versailles Year 1782

Almanach de Versailles pour l'année 1782.
Versailles, chez les libraires de la rue Satory.

Small in-16 volume bound in period marbled full calf, framed with gilded fillets on the boards, ribbed spine , edges (tinted).

Almanacs were an essential publishing genre in the 18th century, at the crossroads of calendar, administrative directory and social guide. Initially limited to indicating religious festivals and astronomical cycles, they gradually evolved to become genuine instruments of knowledge of the social and political body.

In the Versailles context, these publications took on particular importance: they offered a structured, hierarchical vision of the court and royal administration. The Almanach de Versailles thus resembles an official directory, detailing the various offices of the King's Household, civil, military and religious institutions, as well as the main players in administrative life.

Published here in 1782 i.e. in the early years of the reign of Louis XVI, this copy bears witness to a pivotal moment in the monarchy, when the centralization of power at Versailles still remained fully active. It constitutes a valuable documentary source for the study of court society, networks of offices and the administrative topography of the kingdom.

Beyond its historical interest, this work is part of the material tradition of small consultation books, often preserved in simple but elegant bindings, intended for daily use by an administrative and social elite.