Epulum Parasiticum.
Nürnberg, s.n. 1665.
12mo (135 x 76 mm.). Etched allegorical title, [lvi], 315p. and FIVE ETCHED PLATES; lacking the folding letterpress leaf as usual.
Late 18th-century green calf with a gilt chain frame (rubbed), flat spine gilt and gilt-lettered (slightly worn), all edges gilt, red silk marker.
First Collected Edition: “true masterpieces of malicious wit” (Adelung, tr.). Having had enough of pedantic miser, malicious gossip, glutton and social parasite Pierre de Montmaur (1576-1648), Ménage and three friends satirized the satirist with fictional biographical vignettes laced with forgery, murder and urolagnia. one plate depicts montmaur lecturing kitchen staff from inside a cooking pot. The lengthy preface examines the role of parasitism in classical literature. In good condition (some browning and foxing in four quires), from the gastronomy library of baron Pierre de Combrugghe.
¶Bannister, “The Montmaur Affair” in French Studies 33 (1979) 397-410; Adelung, Geschichte der menschlichen Narrheit III: 320-33; Vicaire, Bibliographie gastronomique 332.
Price: $2,800.00