A book with a story of its own

It was with somewhat of a heavy heart that I finished Jennifer's Chiaverini's The Quilter's Legacy last week.  A chance purchase from a charity shop (one of the reasons I love rummaging through the book shelves at charity shops), The Quilter's Legacy is the fifth book from the Elm Creek Quilts series (there are currently twenty books overall).  I've bought a couple of omnibus editions online, which cover the first six books of the series, so I'm eagerly waiting for these to arrive.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem that the Elm Creek Quilts have an English publisher, so I've had to order them from America, so it'll still be a few weeks until they arrive.

Luckily, this wonderful book has arrived through the post for me: The Trianon of Marie Antoinette by Pierre de Nolhac.  Originally published in French, there don't seem to be many translated versions of this little book available, so there aren't that many affordable copies available.  I've therefore been umming and ahhing about buying this book for over a year now, but I finally decided to treat myself.  I am so glad that I did!   

I adore the embossing on the front cover, with a beautiful little fleur de lis just underneath the title. 

One of the reasons I love pre-owned books so much, is that they contain stories within their pages that are not just limited to the words of the author.  And this is a book that definitely has a story of it's own to tell.  For there are pencilled annotations and marking throughout.  Passages marked and underlined, as well as observations such as this:
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And this rather amusing aside:

Explanations about some of the figures mentioned, including their family relations:

And references to other relevant works:
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Even a correction of the text:

And the back of the book a previous owner has even created their own little index of references of interest to them:
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I am endlessly intrigued about the annotator.  Was their interest intellectual - maybe for a school or university project, or perhaps as a source for a book or article of their own?  Or maybe a personal interest?  I think that the topic of the book must have held some sentimental value, for near the front of the book they have stuck in a copy of a painting of Marie Antoinette:

And further along, some leaves have been pinned next to a photo of Marie Antoinette's little hamlet (perhaps some leaves picked up during a visit to the area?):

As for myself, my purchase and interest in this book is purely personal.  For within its pages are references to a beautiful structure that Marie Antoinette had built in that part of the grounds of the Chateau of Versailles known as the domain or the Trianon of Marie Antoinette.  A structure I'm fascinated by, as it was in this aptly named Temple of Love that just over a year ago, whilst on a mini-break to Paris, my boyfriend of seven years proposed.