✨Rare- 1776 French Leather Book Titled “The Practice of Divine Love In Devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus”, with hidden compartment & special Royal provenance! The crest on the outside of this book is a marker of Royal Provenance—The French Bourbon Royal Family, known historically as France Moderne. As kings of France and Navarre, the Bourbon monarchs topped their shield with a royal crown and surrounded it with the chains of the Order of the Holy Spirit and the Order of Saint Michael.
In the 17th-19th centuries, European monarchs and princes bound their personal books in luxurious leather and stamped their coat of arms (typically featuring the fleur-de-lis or a specific royal shield under a crown) in gold leaf on the boards. This practice identifies the volume as a piece of history rather than just a commercial book.
At some point in time this book was transformed into a “Hollow Book” or Secret compartment for storing treasured items. It features a cedar lined compartment inside and was crafted very well. These were popular later in the 19th century and onward. King Louis XVI was famously obsessed with secrecy and was known for hiding treasures throughout The Palace of Versailles! Someone could have carried many secrets in this book or hid treasured items inside.
