1879.]. 8vo, pp. [iv], 182, 6 publishers catalogue for Delarue; with engraved frontispiece signed by Coste depicting a fortune teller addressing an audience, and smaller engraved vignette at tail of avant-propos signed by Duraud, and small title-page vignette; neat repair to tear p. [iii], and at margin of p. 175, browned and lightly foxed throughout due to paper quality; contemporary green sheep backed publisher’s cloth, spine in compartments with raised bands, tooled and lettered in gilt, with marbled endpapers, covers slightly soiled and scratched, extremities lightly bumped; a good copy. One of a myriad of fortune telling games aimed specifically at female audiences, versions of which were published by various Parisian publisher’s during the mid to late 19th century. Players had to choose one of 80 questions to be answered. A pin was then stuck into a printed dial. The number on the dial corresponds to a specific grouping of dots, that in turn leads the player to a page number on which the answer will be revealed.
A popular pastime across Europe, the present iteration claims to be the work of ‘Mlle Lenormant’. Mademoiselle Lenormand (1772-1843) was a famous card-reader in Paris, during the time of Napoleon, who made a successful career reading cards, palms and casting horoscopes for the great and good. After her death, her name lived on through decks of ‘Mlle Lenomand cartomancy cards’, sets of 36 tarot cards associated with playing card suites. The Catalogue Général de la Librairie Française in 1887 suggests the present work was published in 1879.