Lucerne (Suisse)

Album comprising 44 plates of Breton costumes, the first two drawn in pencil, the others delicately watercoloured, mounted on heavy paper, some with captions, unsigned.

Bound in contemporary half green sheep, spine decorated with gilt and black fillets, gilt garlands and fleurons, some rubbing to the spine, embossed cherry-red cloth boards, bumped corners, a few scuffs along the edges.

A handsome album of Breton costumes in the manner of Hippolyte Lalaisse and his Galerie armoricaine of 1848.

Particularly focused on the Breton-speaking departments (Western Morbihan and Finistère): 1. [Seated bagpipe player]. – 2. [Peasant dance]. – 3. Woman from the Auray area (Morbihan). – 4. Young shepherd from Morbihan. – 5. Woman from Plouay (Morbihan). – 6. Man from Faouët (Morbihan). – 7. Women from Josselin (Morbihan). – 8. Woman from Pluméliau (Morbihan). – 9. Women from Ploemeur (Morbihan). – 10. Woman from Ploërmel and nearby farmer (Morbihan). – 11. Woman from Auray (Morbihan). – 12. Woman from Lanzac (Morbihan). – 13. Man from Lanzac. – 14. Woman from Guémené near Pontivy (Morbihan). – 15. Woman from Elven (Morbihan). – 16. Milkmaid from St-Paterne in Vannes (Morbihan). – 17. Woman from Douarnenez (Finistère). – 18. Man from Pont-l’Abbé (Finistère). – 19. Woman from Pont-l’Abbé. – 20. Fisherman from Douarnenez (Finistère). – 21. Milkmaid from Douarnenez. – 22. Bride from Kerfeunteun (Finistère). – 23. Man from Châteauneuf-du-Faou (Finistère). – 24. Women from Plougastel, near Brest (Finistère). – 25. Man from Plougastel. – 26. Woman from Locmaria, near Quimper, and farmer from Elliant (Finistère). – 27. Peasant from Riec (Finistère). – 28. Young girl from Bannalec (Finistère). – 29. Man from Saint-Thégonnec (Finistère). – 30. Women from the area of Pont-Lannay (Finistère). – 31. Bride and groom from Kerlouan (Finistère). – 32. Men and women from the area of Pontcroix (Finistère). – 33. Farmer from Saint-Évarzec (Finistère). – 34. [Woman and two children]. – 35. [Presentation of a newborn at a calvary]. – 36. Woman from Ploëne near Moncontour (Côtes-du-Nord). – 37. Woman from Antrain (Ille-et-Vilaine). – 38. Man and woman from Cancale (Ille-et-Vilaine). – 39. Woman from Saint-Servan and Dinan, near Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine). – 40. Young ladies from Pornic (Loire-Inférieure). – 41. Man from Bourg-de-Batz in festive costume (Loire-Inférieure). – 42. Woman from Bourg-de-Batz in festive costume. – 43. Bride and groom from Bourg-de-Batz. – 44. Young salt-workers in working attire.

Copy from the library of Léon Noël, with his ex-libris label pasted on the front endpaper.

First edition (cf. Barbier IV, cols. 211-212).

Contemporary full red morocco Jansenist binding, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, gilt roll tooling on the caps, blind-stamped fillet border on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border on the pastedowns, gilt fillets on the edges somewhat faded, all edges gilt, bookplate mounted on pastedown.

Some minor internal defects (dampstains and a small loss at the foot of a few leaves).

Barbier devotes an extensive entry to the condemnation of this work on the mystical movement of Quietism, for which Fénelon long contended with Bossuet before both he and Madame Guyon were condemned by Pope Innocent XIII.

Provenance: fine copy from the library of François-César Le Tellier, Marquis de Courtanvaux, Count of Tonnerre, Duke of Doudeauville (1718–1781), with his stamp and engraved bookplate.

Initially captain-colonel of the King's Hundred Swiss Guards, he later turned his attention to chemistry, physics, and astronomy. A member of the Académie des sciences, he studied the development of instruments related to longitude. As an astronomer, he maintained a personal observatory at Colombes.

His library was considered one of the most distinguished of the period.