About this Item
Folio. VI, CLXXIIII leaves. With - repetitions included -36 text woodcuts (one nearly full-page) all surrounded by a varying border (partly decorated with coats of arms), some "lettres fleuries" initials by G. Tory (cf. Mortimer ) and few "Crible " initials. Woodcut printer's device. A magnificent, signed heraldic binding by the famous Paris bookbinder Gruel from the last quarter of the 19th century in an excellent state of preservation, with polychromatic Moroccan ribbon marquetry, abundant gilding of spine, cover, bottom and inside edges as well as gold-embossed spine title; three-side gilt-edging. In a later shift (broad spine of brown, napped leather with gold-embossed spine title [thumbed, somewhat faded], cover done in marbled paper, suede-lined [the lining slightly stained] and in a half-leather slip case with identical cover (slightly thumbed, edges somewhat flattened). First edition of Sevin s translation. Denis Janot organized this edition under his own name and for various Paris bookshops (cf. the corresponding entry in the Ind. Aurel. ), whose own signets and sales notes were then imprinted. Thus our specimen bears the Corrozet-signet on the title page (v. Renou ard 206) and the note : "On les vend à Paris en la grand Salle du Pa1ais du costé de 1a chapelle de messieurs, en 1a boutique de Gilles Corrozet Libraire." This signet makes the book - which is extremely rare anyhow - a top rarity , not accounted for in the relevant bibliographies / catalogues. The woodcuts derive from Janot's edition of the first books of "Amadis de Gaula" of 1540 (cf. Brun and Mortimer), but partly they were made earlier (thus one border is dated "1520"). The borders frequently bear foliage ornaments, and a whole series of them sows grotesque faces and heraldic shields. Brun writes about the "Amadis" woodcuts as a whole: « L'Amadis des Gaules dont le premier livre parut en 1540, est orné de vignettes qui offrent au lecteur une suite de charmant petits tableaux. Certaines sont d'un dessin si parfait et d'une taille si adroite qu'on ne peut s'empêcher de songer aux gravures de Lüt zelburger d'après Holbein. Ici, le style, les proportions des personnages, les physiono mies, tout enfin est différent et accuse la main d'un artiste français, mais la mâitrise est presque égale » (p.68), and generally on Janot's and Corrozet's importance (p.64 / 65) : « Ce fut le role de trois imprimeurs, Denis Janot, Etienne Groulleau et Gilles Corrozet, de répandre a profusion, sous un format commode, de petits textes classiques ou des livrets abondamment illustrés. Leurs vignettes élégantes et spirituelles, transmises ou copiées d'atelier en atelier, interprétées par les ciseleurs, les peintres verriers, les émailleurs et les fayenciers, contribuèrent pour une grande part a fixer les nouvelles formules décorati ves. ». The lavishly equipped Moroccan leather binding bears in the middle of both covers the coat of arms of Henri IV (1553 -1610) in an oval cartouche with the French heraldic shield (on a blue background) and that of Navarre (on red) together with three crowns: the two small ones representing France and Navarre, and the big one symbolizing the union (v. J. Guigard, Nouvelle Armorial du Bibliophile. Paris 1890. p. 20). The heraldic shields and the small crowns are enclosed by delicate foliage. Crown as well as tendrils are gold-embossed, the colours of the escutcheons are subtly repeated in the big crown. The coats of arms are surrounded by a network of partly geometrical, partly floral and ornamental polychromatic ribbons (in beige, brown, ruby and red) end ing at top and bottom in a bigger grotesque, and below four corner vignettes in a smaller one each (in beige the bigger, in brown the smaller ones). The fields between the stripes are gold-em bossed with "Crible" dots. The cover decor is predominantly worked in leather mar quetry . This binding in mock-historical style follows the tradition of "reliure adaptée au texte", a speciality of the Gruel. Seller Inventory # 1310
Contact seller
Report this item
