Mesdames De France

Adélaïde, Victoire, and Sophie were daughters of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska. The sisters held significant positions at court; Adélaïde, for example, served as an advisor both to her father and to her nephew Louis XVI. The bindings of the Mesdames are differentiated by color: Adélaïde’s are bound in red morocco, Victoire’s in green, and Sophie’s in yellow (citron). The diamond-shaped armorial of the fille de France (daughter of France) is the same for each, however. Of the three sisters, Adélaïde had the most extensive library—over eleven thousand volumes, surpassed only by the collection of Madame de Pompadour. Adélaïde’s books are richly decorated, demonstrating nearly every stylistic technique practiced by contemporary binders.