PARIS.- Sotheby’s Paris will be devoting a whole day to Books and Manuscripts on 9 November 2011, staging two sales: the first devoted to Books & Manuscripts, Including the Library of a Connoisseur: History of Ideas, Science & Letters (2:30pm); the second (6:30pm) to a Collection of Precious Books from a Connoisseur’s Library. The first sale begins with a collection of 70 emblematic books about the history of science and ideas. All embody a discovery in, or new contribution to, the field of knowledge, ranging from Descartes to Pavlov via Napoleon’s Civil Code, printed on vellum, and a handwritten manuscript signed Niépce that constitutes the ‘birth certificate’ of photography. The sale’s star lot is an ensemble of 126 French revolutionary decrees (3 November 1789 – 12 September 1790) printed on vellum, and formerly owned by the Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. Each Lettre Patente ratifi