Commentaires et annotations sur la Sepmaine de la Création du monde [ENSEMBLE] La Judith de G. de Saluste, seigneur du Bartas. Revue, augmentée d'Argumens, Sommaires, & Annotations. A Madame Marguerite de France, Royne de Navarre.

A set of two important texts by Du Bartas, a major poet of the French Renaissance. The quarto edition of 1583 of La Sepmaine de la Création du monde, described as "magnificent" by historian Lyndan Warner, adorned with an engraved title-page, is frequently found together with the work on Judith. These texts were originally published in 1578 and 1574 respectively. 

Contemporary gilt vellum binding with the cipher "LBH[?]", smooth spine decorated with stylised fillets and a cipher, a single fillet and four ciphers forming a border to the boards, centred with a foliate centre-piece enclosing a cipher, all edges gilt. Manuscript ownership inscription in brown ink at the foot of the engraved title-page. 

Spine very slightly split at the foot, staining and restoration to the boards, 2.5 cm split on front board and 6.5 cm split on rear board, both to the margins, upper right corner of front board damaged and restored, gilding rubbed in places. Scattered foxing, worming and browning, a minor nick to the upper left corner of the engraved title-page, not affecting the engraving, ink offset in the margin of p. 93, small marginal tear p. 244, ink smears to the verso of f. 328, faint dampstaining to the upper margins of the final leaves.

In the present copy, the two leaves containing the "Extrait du Privilège" and "L'Histoire de la création du monde se rapporte à cinq articles principaux" are located at the end of the volume, before the final leaf of the "Table," rather than at the beginning of the volume.

"For the vogue of the 'Semaine' was truly extraordinary, surpassing anything the sixteenth century had yet witnessed. At least forty-eight editions appeared in rapid succession during Ronsard's lifetime, and the year 1585 seems to mark the height of a reputation that had already spread abroad, and that remained very high in France for nearly two decades [...] It is well known that the 'Semaine' was swiftly translated into Latin, German, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, and English."

Marcel Raymond, L'influence de Ronsard sur la poésie française (1550-1585), 1993