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An early 16th century edition of the medieval allegorical dream poem Le Roman de la Rose, otherwise known as The Romance of the Rose. The Romance is a notable instance of courtly literature and love, meant to entertain and to teach about the art of romantic love. Throughout the narrative, Rose is used both as the name of the titular lady to be wooed, and as an abstract symbol of female sexuality. Of the poem itself, the work was written in two stage, in two wide periods of time. In 1230, Guillaume de Lorris wrote the first 4058 lines describing a courtier's attempts at wooing his beloved, but it was not until 1275, that the second stage of composition was written by Jean de Meun, and with the additional 17724 lines, he provides allegorical figures such as Reason, Nature and Genius, who discuss the philosophy of love, and how our Lover accomplishes his goal. Although it brought about quite a bit of controversy at the time, the work itself was widely popular during the Medieval Era, and provides some insight into queer desires, despite the overall heterosexual romance. This edition itself was shared between eleven Parisian booksellers: and while the facsimile title page designates Jean Longis as the publisher, this very edition itself could be found under the publisher names of Fr. Regnault, Jean Mace, G. de Bossozel, J. Petit, P. Vidoue, P. le Preux and others. There are several dozen woodcuts vignettes throughout, with some of which are repeating several times, and being copies of the 1529 edition. The script itself is written in medieval gothic to compliment the poem, which is uncommon for a work of this period. One vellum bound volume in octavo, 8+III-CCCC leaves On note of condition, this volume is in fair shape, with the joints front board having split. There are signs of repaired worming throughout the entire volume, with sporadic dampstaining throughout. The margins of several pages are short, though they may also have been taken from another copy of this work. The following f. are lacking: Title page, 7-8, 77-78, 152-168, 194, 205-210, 276, 293-294, 396-398 (Note, this does not indicate page number, merely the order of numbered leaves after the preface). The prefatory leaves appear to have been taken from another copy of this work as well, with the title page in facsimile. Seller Inventory # ABE-1624073161529
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