Collections of an Only Child: Seventy Years a Bibliophile, the Library of Justin G. Schiller

July 7, 1672. One sheet folded to make four-pages. One page autograph note, signed by Charles Perrault ("Perrault"), sending payment instructions for work completed to a chateau. Light creasing from when folded; scattered light spotting and toning.

Rare autograph note from this famed fairy tale author. Charles Perrault (1628-1703) came from a distinguished Parisian family and held a number of important government positions under Louis XIV. In 1663 he became secretary to the finance minister Jean Baptiste Colbert, and 1671 was placed in charge of Royal buildings. Perrault was also a prolific author, and was active in the literary quarrel between the "Ancients" and the "Moderns" (taking the side of the latter). He would be little remembered today, had there not appeared in 1697 his anonymously published collection of eight fairy tales, Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé, including classics such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, etc.

Together with:

[Perrault, Charles]
Memoires de Charles Perrault...
Avignon, 1759. First edition. 12mo. (iv), 204 pp. Quarter tan paper over green paper-covered boards, black morocco spine label, stamped in gilt; blue speckled edges; armorial ownership ink stamp of Charles Henneguier on title-page, contemporary ownership signature at top of same; printed catalogue slips mounted to verso of front free endpaper and rear paste-down; scattered light spotting to text.