Extraordinary Pair of Antique French Bound Journal des Demoiselles, Paris, 1855 (year of the Exposition Unservsalle) and 1856, with family Provenence

In 1902, a French woman named Noémi Audibert gave two books to her friend Madame Manuel and her daughters.

Not one. Two.

Consecutive annual volumes of *Journal des Demoiselles* — Paris's most beloved women's magazine — for the years 1855 and 1856. Both inscribed in the same elegant hand: “À Madame Manuel et à Mesdemoiselles ses filles.” To Madame Manuel and her young daughters.

The 1856 copy was later passed to daughter Marie Louise Manuel-Boué — her married name suggesting it traveled with her into a new life.

Those two books stayed together for over 120 years. They arrived to me that way. I’m listing them as a pair.

Paris, 1855. The Exposition Universelle just opened. The crinoline was at its peak. And every educated young Frenchwoman was reading this. 📖

Journal des Demoiselles — the most beloved women's magazine of 19th century France, published continuously from 1833 to 1922. This is the complete bound annual for 1855: the 23rd year, printed at Boulevard des Italiens, Paris. A full year of fashion plates, needlework patterns, fiction, music, and society news, bound between two glorious marbled paper covers.

The Provenance — The Manuel Family: This is the detail that makes your copy uniquely valuable. Two handwritten inscriptions appear inside:

• "À Madame Laurence Manuel et à Mesdemoiselles ses filles — Noémi Audibert — 1899"
  ("To Madame Laurence Manuel and to her young daughters — Noémi Audibert — 1899")
• "Marie Louise Manuel-Boué — 1901"

This tells a beautiful story: the volume was gifted in 1899 by one Noémi Audibert to Madame Laurence Manuel and her daughters, and then passed to daughter Marie Louise Manuel-Boué by 1901 — likely upon her marriage (the hyphenated surname Boué suggests a married name). Three generations of French women, one book, two inscriptions 43 years after publication.

The 1855 cover shows a bit of wear and the 1856 cover is in excellent condition for its age.  A little water damage inside both (on the corner of pages), but remarkable for a 175 year old books!