Catalogue of a Collection of Early French Books in the Library of C. Fairfax Murray. [ 2 volumes, complete set ]

Davies, H.W.

Published by Holland Press, London, 1961 reprint of the 1910 first edition, which was limited to 100 copies, 1961

About this Item

This reprint is limited to 250 sets. 2 vols, parchment-backed boards, royal 4to, (12), 600 + 601-1096, lxix pp, many ills. 696 entries. A sumptuous large-format catalogue, profusely illustrated, and published at 48 guineas in 1962. The catalogue covers French books from 1475 to 1692. The majority of the books were printed in France, with many being productions of the earlier presses at Albi, Avignon, Chambéry, Dijon, Lyons, Paris, Poitiers, Rouen, Toulouse, Valence, Vienne, &c. A few others are included from presses at Louvain, Antwerp, La Haye, Middelburg, and Geneva as most of them are in the French language. Vérard is represented by 44 separate items, Le Noir (M. & P.) by 33, Lotrian 24, Trepperel 25, Nourry 15, Pigouchet & Vostre 23 items. Several items are unique. The main portion of the collection consists of books with woodcuts, which have been chosen as representative of book-illustration in France; exhibiting the progress of graphic art from its first steps at Lyons and Paris to its highest point as exemplified in the multitude of devotional books produced between 1490 and 1525. Fairfax Murray's French collection included volumes from the libraries of Colbert, the chief political advisor to the Sun King Louis XIV, Madame de Pompadour, the Duc de Ia Vallières and Diane de Poitiers. "The two volumes are…bibliographical monuments of lasting importance" - Seymour de Ricci. "Owing to the extremely detailed bibliographical descriptions and critical notes by Davies, successively cataloguer and owner of the London bookselling firm of J. &J. Leighton, from whom many of the books were acquired, the catalogues of the Fairfax Murray Collection of French fifteenth- and sixteenth-century illustrated books (including a few of later date) may be considered selective bibliographies of their subject and belong indeed to the best reference works on it." - Breslauer and Folter. There are four good Indexes: Authors and Persons mentioned; Titles, Subjects and Places; Printers and Publishers; Former Owners. Fore-edges slightly spotted, otherwise a Very Good set.

Seller Inventory # ABE-11961

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Catalogue of a Collection of Early French Books in the Library of C. Fairfax Murray. [ 2 volumes, complete set ]
• Publisher: Holland Press, London, 1961 reprint of the 1910 first edition, which was limited to 100 copies
• Publication Date: 1961
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Rare Books (Bibliographies)