Two volumes bound in one, both comprising of 174 pages. Marbled boards, with raised bands and with gilt print and decorations on its spine. The boards are rubbed, and chipped at the edges, the marbling suffering minor loss towards the head's outer edge, the verso of the frontispiece, less so the frontispice itself and the title page are damp stained; the pages in volume two are badly tanned as are the last 30 pages in volume one. There is no date on the book, George Peirce operated between 1810-1858, and I have taken the 1849 one from the British Library and a Dumas Bibliography. No other Peirce edition is listed. The book is also titled 'Ascanio', a historical novel, set in Paris in the summer and autumn of 1540 and based on several episodes from the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. 'Francis the First; or, The Sculptor's Apprentice and the Provost's Daughter' was originally issued in weekly 'penny' numbers, also known as 'penny bloods' and later 'penny dreadfuls'. A nice copy with faults.