As early a French secret compartment book box as I've come across--1752!--and quite a large one, with the most gorgeous marbled endpapers . And, a volume about Roman History, specifically the rise and fall of the Roman Republic, feels pretty apt for the moment. (This is the third volume in a series written by Charles Rollin and Jean-Baptiste Louis Crévier spanning the period from the founding of Rome to the The Battle of Actium, 31 BC, leading to the end of the Roman Republic.) Good for stashing all sorts of important things--passports and emergency cash among them!--and as no one seems to read either history or French these days, surely they’d never be discovered by anyone else!

10 5/16" x 8" x 2 1/4", well worn exterior, including some losses to corners, and some splitting where the front cover meets the spine--as documented. Stable, and I personally like it feeling like much consulted volume! Interior in beautiful condition.