Tableau Croix, First Edition (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. Text in French and Latin. Fair HC. Contemporary full red-brown morocco leather over boards; elaborate gilt-stamped pointille design incorporating multiple frames, floral patterns and arabesques on both covers and spine (see photos); raised bands on spine; 2 brass clasps at cover fore edges (lacking); all edges gilt; swirled comb pattern end papers; all text and plates are copper-plate engravings - verso with scenes of celebration of the mass, recto with prayers in Latin and French; 96 engraved plates by Jean Collin, Guillaume de Gheyn, I. Durant, perhaps others. Title page, 2 blank pages, dedication to Marquis de Chasteu-neuf (verso), portrait, advice to reader (verso), 2 leaves lacking, verso plate nos. 3 - 38, recto plate nos. 2 - 38, Jesus portrait, litany, Mary portrait, litany, 19 plates with psalms and scenes from life of David, Extraict du Privilege du Roy (Sep 20, 1652), 2 pp in fine hand writing (humanist miniscule?) titled 'Sequentia' and 2 pp titled 'Hymnus'. Covers and spine are bright and clean; rubbing wear at cover fore corners, boards just exposed; rubbing wear at top band on spine; slight rubbing at spine ends; scrape on rear cover with ½ inch chip of leather missing; fore edge clasps missing; text block remains firmly bound but last 5 gatherings are just starting; clean interior; 1 interior leaf lacking fore edge - not affecting plates; great clarity in engravings suggests early print run. In modern linen custom archival box with title. 175 x 120 mm.

172 x 110 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 1/4"). [3], 34 leaves, 35-39, [1] pp., [12] leaves. Fine old (contemporary?) red morocco, covers panelled with gilt fillets with flowering urn cornerpieces, raised bands, the spine densely gilt in compartments with scrolls and dots, two clasps, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. ENGRAVED THROUGHOUT, WITH 38 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS, consisting of one portrait, two allegorical religious scenes (including title), and 35 illustrations of the Holy Eucharist, plus 44 PAGES OF ENGRAVED TEXT, 37 of these with text flanked by full-length figures of saints, accompanied by other religious symbols at head and foot of page, six framed with vignettes of angels, the Madonna, or scenes from the life of David, one page with text only. Contemporary ink inscription to the lower margin of the title page reading "In Archui. vitr." Endleaf with engraved armorial bookplate of Viscount Strathallan; front pastedown with the bookplate of John Evelyn. Duportal, pp. 244-45; Brunet V, 624; Graesse VI, 4. Trivial rubbing to the extremities, leather straps slightly worn but holding strong, but A SUPERB COPY, exceptionally clean, fresh, and bright internally, and in its solid and unsophisticated (and still very pleasing) binding. This is a particularly attractive copy of a sumptuously illustrated prayer book in its especially appealing original(?) 17th century binding. According to Duportal, it is "One of three important publications whose engravings reveal the trend characteristic of religious illustrations in France between 1601 and 1660." The work opens with a dedication to Charles d'Aubespine, Marquis de Châteauneuf (1580-1653), with a full-page portrait by Guillame de Gheyn (b. 1610). Then, the bulk of the book is made up of two groups of plates. Those in the first group appear primarily on the rectos, and contain prayers in Latin and French flanked by pairs of saints; gaps in the prayers are filled by naturalistic flowers, insects, and birds. Many of these plates also include a scene (or two) in miniature, depicting the life of the saint(s) or a vignette of angels. Just two of these engravings are signed "J. Collin," but they all appear to be in the same hand and demonstrate an impressive level of finesse and delicacy, with emotive, graceful saints depicted with sure, light lines. Duportal notes that our artist had a "talent charmant," and that well-executed dry-points of this type are quite rare in French books of the period. The second group of engravings appear on the versos, and depict the performance of a part of the Mass, beneath a cloud in which appears a relevant scene from the life of Christ. They are all unsigned, and clearly by a different hand with more rustic features--possibly "copies of originals published abroad," according to Duportal. The book concludes with text framed by gamboling putti and scenes from the life of Christ and facing full-page bust portraits, followed by the Penitential Psalms, each with elaborate illustrated frames depicting scenes from the life of David. Copies of this work can be found with varying numbers of leaves and engravings, but the present item seems to be an early edition as it contains the earlier state of the engravings on the versos (before they were substantially reworked), and it does not contain the "Privilege du Roy" with the date 1652 or 1653. Our copy comes from the books assembled by the famous diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706), a library that Quaritch's dictionary of English book collectors calls "a noble collection." De Ricci says that the finest books from the library bear Evelyn's monogram (as ours does), and this bookplate brings with it the expectation of remarkably fine contemporary condition. This copy also has the bookplate of Viscount Strathallan, possibly William Drummond (1810-86), Conservative MP and the second to hold the family title following the reversal of the attainder put in place after his family's participation in the Jacobite uprising.