Antique French Catholic Missal – Paroissien Romain (Tours Edition) with Poetry
Antique French Catholic Missal – Paroissien Romain (Tours Edition) with Poetry
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Additional Description:
A beautifully preserved miniature French Catholic missal titled Paroissien Romain, bound in rich brown leather with delicate gilt ruling to the covers and spine. The compact devotional volume features a classic 19th-century French binding style, including rounded spine, gilt titling, and hand-gilded page edges that have developed a warm, luminous patina over time.
The interior reveals a finely printed liturgical text in both Latin and French, accompanied by detailed engraved religious illustrations, including a striking frontispiece of Christ and a devotional image of the Holy Family. The title page indicates publication in Tours by Alfred Mame et Fils—one of the most prominent Catholic publishers of the 19th century.
What elevates this example is the extensive handwritten content throughout: period ink inscriptions, devotional poetry, and personal reflections fill several pages, transforming the book into a deeply intimate object. These layered annotations—likely added by multiple hands—offer a rare glimpse into lived religious practice and personal sentiment in the late 19th century.
First Page Inscription (Rough Translation): "C.P.L.C
Dove
she loves, she prays, she suffers but she stays calm. My God makes her happy!!!!.......
But who? A.L.
Constancy in the chimera of love"
Second Page Inscription (Rough Translation): What is love....
To love is to bend the world in a single line
To love is to be proud to have a master
To love is to lift in one's heart an old
It is to live there at the edge of an eternal spring
To love is to immolate oneself every day to everything
To love is to become drunk on the tears one cries
To love is to deviate without forming sudden impulses
To love is to suffer everything without ever complaining
Ask everyone who breathes
The hardest one to nourish
It will animate itself to tell you
The sweetest word is Love
Friendship is compared to a drop of water; when it falls on marble, it freezes"
Third Page Inscription (Rough Translation): The scent that must reach my nose is that of butter
In a household, grammar does not teach happiness
Page 206 Inscription (Rough Translation): Love is a white basket
Where always one finds a flower
It is a song for our heart
It is a sound for our ear
Follow this double mystery
You will see the double flower of honey
Love is the flower of the earth"
Page 348 Inscription (Rough Translation): If my heart had wings
It would enroll towards us
Heart it is faithful to us
Near us it comes back
One does not die of love
But one becomes withered from it
The heart is a pendulum between
a tear and a kiss
Only it counts to be
sensitive to friendship but those
who have this sensitivity are more likely
to suffer than to be insensitive
It would be desirable that all good friends get along together to die the same day
Page 452 Inscription (Rought Translation): Allegretti you fussy the his heart
Strongly my light break
The good a volume my dreams
yes night my dream of my fear
a hin hidden my of us
Last Page Inscription (Rough Translation): "Love, you can swear; love is greedy, to say the least, the impossible to satisfy itself, and to please its dear object. Love, but for friendship there is nothing???"
Era: Late 19th century (dated 1872)
History:
The Paroissien Romain was a standard Catholic prayer and service book used widely across France in the 19th century. Published by Alfred Mame et Fils in Tours, these editions were known for their quality printing and accessibility to lay worshippers. Such books were often carried to Mass and used for daily devotion, commonly gifted for milestones such as First Communion or Confirmation. Personalized inscriptions and marginalia, as seen here, reflect their role as both spiritual guides and treasured personal keepsakes.
Provenance:
France; published in Tours by Alfred Mame et Fils (1872). Contains numerous handwritten inscriptions and annotations in French, likely from original owner(s), adding a strong element of personal devotional history.
Materials:
Leather binding, gilt page edges, paper, ink, engraved illustrations
Dimensions:
Disclaimers:
Noticeable wear to leather binding including rubbing, edge wear, and small losses at spine; interior pages show toning, foxing, and ink marks; handwritten inscriptions throughout; binding remains intact and functional.
Additional Description:
A beautifully preserved miniature French Catholic missal titled Paroissien Romain, bound in rich brown leather with delicate gilt ruling to the covers and spine. The compact devotional volume features a classic 19th-century French binding style, including rounded spine, gilt titling, and hand-gilded page edges that have developed a warm, luminous patina over time.
The interior reveals a finely printed liturgical text in both Latin and French, accompanied by detailed engraved religious illustrations, including a striking frontispiece of Christ and a devotional image of the Holy Family. The title page indicates publication in Tours by Alfred Mame et Fils—one of the most prominent Catholic publishers of the 19th century.
What elevates this example is the extensive handwritten content throughout: period ink inscriptions, devotional poetry, and personal reflections fill several pages, transforming the book into a deeply intimate object. These layered annotations—likely added by multiple hands—offer a rare glimpse into lived religious practice and personal sentiment in the late 19th century.
First Page Inscription (Rough Translation): "C.P.L.C
Dove
she loves, she prays, she suffers but she stays calm. My God makes her happy!!!!.......
But who? A.L.
Constancy in the chimera of love"
Second Page Inscription (Rough Translation): What is love....
To love is to bend the world in a single line
To love is to be proud to have a master
To love is to lift in one's heart an old
It is to live there at the edge of an eternal spring
To love is to immolate oneself every day to everything
To love is to become drunk on the tears one cries
To love is to deviate without forming sudden impulses
To love is to suffer everything without ever complaining
Ask everyone who breathes
The hardest one to nourish
It will animate itself to tell you
The sweetest word is Love
Friendship is compared to a drop of water; when it falls on marble, it freezes"
Third Page Inscription (Rough Translation): The scent that must reach my nose is that of butter
In a household, grammar does not teach happiness
Page 206 Inscription (Rough Translation): Love is a white basket
Where always one finds a flower
It is a song for our heart
It is a sound for our ear
Follow this double mystery
You will see the double flower of honey
Love is the flower of the earth"
Page 348 Inscription (Rough Translation): If my heart had wings
It would enroll towards us
Heart it is faithful to us
Near us it comes back
One does not die of love
But one becomes withered from it
The heart is a pendulum between
a tear and a kiss
Only it counts to be
sensitive to friendship but those
who have this sensitivity are more likely
to suffer than to be insensitive
It would be desirable that all good friends get along together to die the same day
Page 452 Inscription (Rought Translation): Allegretti you fussy the his heart
Strongly my light break
The good a volume my dreams
yes night my dream of my fear
a hin hidden my of us
Last Page Inscription (Rough Translation): "Love, you can swear; love is greedy, to say the least, the impossible to satisfy itself, and to please its dear object. Love, but for friendship there is nothing???"
Era: Late 19th century (dated 1872)
History:
The Paroissien Romain was a standard Catholic prayer and service book used widely across France in the 19th century. Published by Alfred Mame et Fils in Tours, these editions were known for their quality printing and accessibility to lay worshippers. Such books were often carried to Mass and used for daily devotion, commonly gifted for milestones such as First Communion or Confirmation. Personalized inscriptions and marginalia, as seen here, reflect their role as both spiritual guides and treasured personal keepsakes.
Provenance:
France; published in Tours by Alfred Mame et Fils (1872). Contains numerous handwritten inscriptions and annotations in French, likely from original owner(s), adding a strong element of personal devotional history.
Materials:
Leather binding, gilt page edges, paper, ink, engraved illustrations
Dimensions:
Disclaimers:
Noticeable wear to leather binding including rubbing, edge wear, and small losses at spine; interior pages show toning, foxing, and ink marks; handwritten inscriptions throughout; binding remains intact and functional.