Les cent nouvelles nouvelles. Suivent les cent nouvelles contenant les cent histoires nouveaux, qui sont moult plaisans a raconter, en toutes bonnes compagnies; par maniere de joyeuseté

A new edition of the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles, published in 1736 under the fictitious Cologne imprint of Pierre Gaillard, probably printed in Amsterdam, and reproducing the celebrated illustrations by Romeyn de Hooghe first issued in 1701.

Illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece engraved by Gilliam van der Gouwen after De Hooghe and one hundred half-page copper-engraved illustrations after the artist's designs, comprising 45 in the first volume and 55 in the second. Several are signed by Jan van Vianen or Laurens Scherm. The copperplates were reworked for this edition by Bernard Picart (1673–1733), who had died three years before its publication, hence the title-page statement "retouchées par feu B. Picart le Romain". Titles printed in red and black, each with a floral-vase ornament. A good impression of the plates.

An elegant and unusual binding in full red leather, probably dating from the late eighteenth century, perhaps slightly later. Spines with raised bands and compartments decorated with tulip tools, gilt lettering and volume numbers, gilt rolls at head and foot, gilt ornamental borders to the covers, marbled endpapers and all edges gilt. An early ink signature at the foot of each title-page. Upper headcap of the second volume partially worn, corners rubbed and a small nick to the lower joint of the same volume. An attractive, fresh set despite these minor imperfections.

The Cent Nouvelles nouvelles is generally regarded as the earliest collection of short stories in French literature. Compiled within the circle of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to whom it is dedicated, the work is thought to have been assembled between 1456 and 1467, amid the splendour and often uninhibited pleasures of the Burgundian court. Its hundred tales, assigned to thirty-six narrators drawn from the Duke's household or the entourage of the Dauphin Louis, then taking refuge at his court, explore amorous stratagems, marital misadventures, deception and human frailty. Women and members of the clergy are frequent targets of a satire whose frankness leaves little room for conventional propriety.

Although both its title and narrative framework openly recall Boccaccio's Decameron, the Facetiae of Poggio Bracciolini and the French tradition of the fabliaux appear to have exerted a more immediate influence on the substance of the stories. Their appeal lies less in literary refinement than in the liveliness of their situations, the sharpness of their dialogue and the often merciless wit characteristic of much late medieval comic writing.

The identity of the author, or more probably authors, remains a matter of debate. Long attributed to Louis XI, and subsequently to Antoine de La Sale, himself named as the narrator of the fiftieth tale, the collection was ascribed by Pierre Champion to Philippe Pot (1428–1493), to whom fifteen of the stories are attributed. A godson of Philip the Good, a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and later Grand Seneschal of Burgundy, Pot is also remembered for his celebrated sculpted tomb, now in the Louvre. His proposed authorship, like the earlier attributions, remains conjectural, and the possibility of collective composition cannot be dismissed. The work was first printed in Paris in 1486 by Antoine Vérard, before enjoying a long history of subsequent editions.

A new chapter in that history began with the Dutch edition of 1701, for which Romeyn de Hooghe (1645–1708) devised a series of one hundred compositions that rank among the most spirited achievements of early illustrated French literature. A Dutch draughtsman and engraver particularly renowned for his vigorous political satires against Louis XIV, De Hooghe had already illustrated La Fontaine's Contes in 1685. In the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles he found a literary world admirably suited to his temperament: figures caught in motion, expressive gestures, bustling interiors, clandestine encounters and compromising situations afforded abundant scope for his remarkably free narrative imagination.

Far from merely depicting the events of each tale, his compositions bring out their comic mechanisms, innuendo and occasional cruelty. The expressive faces, carefully arranged groups and interplay of glances all contribute to a mischievous reading of the medieval text. His illustrations for the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles have accordingly long been ranked alongside those for La Fontaine's Contes, another of his finest achievements as a book illustrator.

The reuse of these illustrations in 1736, with alterations by Bernard Picart, reflects their enduring appeal to European collectors and readers. Born in Paris and established in Amsterdam, Picart had acquired a considerable reputation as a book illustrator; his reworking of De Hooghe's copperplates extended the publishing life of a series already more than thirty years old. The posthumous acknowledgement on the title-pages also records the fact that this edition appeared after the deaths of both artists.

Nearly three centuries later, Romeyn de Hooghe finds in these Burgundian tales a freedom of expression and a mischievous wit scarcely diminished by time. His engravings give medieval satire a new lease of life; human follies, after all, change less over the centuries than the arts that delight in portraying them.