Rare first edition, comprising 9 plates, including 3 folding plates.
Contemporary full mottled brown calf bindings. Spines with raised bands, gilt decoration. Title and volume labels in brown morocco. Blue mottled edges. A handsome copy.
The rare first edition of the two volumes published respectively in 1724 and 1726. It is illustrated with 2 head-piece vignettes, 8 pages of musical scores, a cabalistic tree printed separately, the Samaritan Alphabet, 2 plates of coins and 2 figures also printed separately.
Copy with arms stamped on the covers and within each compartment from the library of the Abbey of Saint-Victor. The Abbey of Saint-Victor was one of the oldest abbeys in Paris (on the site of the University of Jussieu and the Jardin des Plantes) and one of the great intellectual centers of the medieval West; its rich library was opened to the public in the 18th century with the addition of new buildings. The abbey was destroyed during the Revolution and most of its collections joined the Bibliothèque nationale.
Contemporary bindings in full glazed blonde calf. Raised band spines decorated. Red morocco title labels, volume labels rubbed, as well as the library label at the foot. Headcap of volume I worn with upper joint cracked at head. A loss at the head of volume II; upper joint exposed with a loss at foot. Some corners slightly bumped. Despite the defects, a very handsome copy, with fine tooling and beautiful arms.
First edition.
Contemporary half light brown speckled sheep over marbled paper boards, spines with triple gilt fillets, black sheep title and volume labels (error to numbering of volumes: the first volume of the supplement, volume 16, is marked 15 by mistake), traces of rubbing and repairs to some spines, a few headpieces rubbed, some with small lacks, a few joints cracked.
A good set preserving its two volumes of supplements, practically no foxing.
The first edition was published in 1578 in Geneva. Brunet II, 1076: 'Cet ouvrage piquant a été édité à Genève, en 1578, et non à Paris ; selon plusieurs bibliographes. L'auteur y a prodigué son immense érudition, mais en même temps s'y est permis certaines plaisanteries un peu hardies, qui lui attirèrent une verte semonse du conseil de Genève, par suite de laquelle il jugea prudent de s'absenter... Il en existe deux autres d'Anvers, 1579 et 1583, in 16, qui ne sont guère moins rares que la première, et dont le prix est assez élevé.' ["This piquant work was published in Geneva, in 1578, and not in Paris; according to several bibliographers. The author lavished his immense erudition upon it, but at the same time permitted himself certain rather bold jokes, which brought him a sharp rebuke from the Geneva council, as a result of which he judged it prudent to absent himself... There exist two others from Antwerp, 1579 and 1583, in 16mo, which are hardly less rare than the first, and whose price is quite high."]
Full calf binding mid-19th century. Ornate spine with raised bands, in the style of a 17th-century binding. Rubbing. Missing the lower right corner of leaf 97 with loss of a few letters from the last word.
Satirical dialogues, mocking court behaviors, fashion in dress and language (the fashion of pronouncing French words in the Italian manner for example, or linguistic conventions about titles). Henri Estienne conceals himself under the name of Jean Franchet. The drollery and mockery are often pushed quite far, and the whole reads with the greatest delight. The two dialogues are preceded by poems addressed to courtiers no less droll and satirical.
First edition. Rare. Engraved title page with printer’s vignette (a beehive and bees). A fine edition, handsomely printed on quality laid paper. The copy is authenticated by the author’s original signature.
The copy bears a preliminary page preceding the half-title for a prize, repeating the same motto found on the binding. The book appears to have been presented by the University or School of Harlem to Bernardo Van Laar in 1799 as a first prize in letters, and seems signed by several professors.
Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Emblematic binding (Athena – or Virtue? – with her attributes reading a book beneath a tree, on her shield: a sword surmounted by the Maltese cross, flanked by four stars) with the motto Vicit Vim Virtus gilt-stamped on the boards. Spine with raised bands, richly decorated with intertwined foliage and floral tools. Broad gilt frame on the covers. Red morocco label. Traces of ties. Rubbing to the spine, otherwise a handsome copy.
With a bookseller’s label (A. Durand, Paris), a stamp from the diocesan library of Valence, and a stamp of E. T. Hannion, chaplain at the Imperial Lycée of Bar-Le-Duc.
First edition.
Contemporary full vellum binding. Raised bands to spine. Hebrew title handwritten in ink. Two small wormholes at foot. Two defects with loss to the band of the third compartment and to the upper joint of the fourth compartment.
Hebrew-Latin dictionary compiled by Zanolini, professor of Oriental languages at the seminary of Padua.
