Pompadour's Library

Madame de Pompadour’s library contained over thirty-five thousand books, making it one of the largest literary repositories of the ancien régime. Her affinity for high-end works of art and luxury items extended to her books, many of which were lavishly decorated. On this binding, Douceur added red accents at the corners and within individual flowers to highlight the dentelle. Among Pompadour and her peers, books were often displayed with prominence as objets d’art—as Jayne Wrightsman lived with them—of which this colored and delicately gilt binding is an excellent example.