SANSON (Henri-Clément) — Seven Generations of Executioners. - Lot 261

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SANSON (Henri-Clément) — Seven Generations of Executioners. - Lot 261
SANSON (Henri-Clément) — Seven Generations of Executioners. Memoirs of the Sanson Family — 1862–1863 SANSON (Henri-Clément). — Seven Generations of Executioners, 1688–1847. Memoirs of the Sanson Family, compiled, edited, and published by H. Sanson, former executioner of the Court of Paris. Paris, Dupray de La Mahérie & Co., 1862–1863. 6 in-8 volumes, uniform contemporary binding in black shagreen, ribbed spine decorated with embossed panels, gilt title and volume numbers, covers framed with fillets and embossed geometric designs, marbled endpapers. First edition, complete in all six volumes, of these famous memoirs devoted to the Sanson dynasty, executioners of the Court of Paris for nearly two centuries, from 1688 to 1847. The bibliographic collation of the edition confirms six volumes published in 1862–1863. The work, which runs to nearly 3,000 pages, opens with a comprehensive historical study of methods of execution and the role of the executioner, before tracing the history of the Sanson family and, through it, that of numerous criminal and political cases of the Ancien Régime, the Revolution, and the 19th century: Cartouche, Damiens, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, those condemned during the Revolution, etc. An old catalog, moreover, describes this edition as a genuine plea against the death penalty. These memoirs are traditionally attributed to Henri-Clément Sanson (1799–1889), the last member of the dynasty to serve as executioner in Paris. However, the literary composition of the text was largely carried out with the assistance of the publicist d’Olbreuse, based on memories and documents provided by Sanson; their partly reconstructed or apocryphal nature is now well established. Nevertheless, the collection constitutes a particularly evocative document on the history of criminal justice, torture, and capital punishment in France, and remains one of the best-known works devoted to the famous family of executioners. An engraved bookplate is pasted onto the inside front cover of the first volume. A complete copy in an attractive, uniform binding of the period. The bindings are rubbed and show signs of wear, particularly on the headbands, joints, raised bands, and corners; there are a few minor imperfections and signs of wear on the covers. Scattered foxing and stains, sometimes pronounced, more noticeable on certain leaves and endpapers. Nevertheless, a solid and decorative set; the six volumes present a beautiful uniformity on the bookshelf.
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