Recveil Des Choses Notables, qui ont esté faites à Bayonne, à l’entreueuë du Roy Treschrestien Charles neufieme…la Royne sa…mere, auec la Royne…sa sœur.
Paris, M. Vascosan 1566.
Large 4to (234 x 161 mm.). 56 leaves. Woodcut headpiece incorporating the initials of the king, his mother and his sister, EIGHTEEN TEXT WOODCUTS OF GOLD PENDANTS (sixteen 90 x 59 mm., two 93 x 82 mm.; ?by royal gem cutter Olivier Codoré).
Late 19th-century gilt-ruled red morocco, gilt spine title, all edges gilt, blue silk marker.
Only Edition. This describes Charles IX’s entry into Bayonne (southwestern France) on 30 May 1565 and the ensuing month of celebrations with his mother (Catherine de’ Medici), sister (Elisabeth, Queen of Spain) and hundreds of courtiers and nobles. Entertainments included songs, plays with elaborate stage scenery, speeches, masquerades, poetry (attributed to Ronsard), a giant-and-dwarf comedic duo and a riverboat trip. Sumptuous clothing was at the center of all public displays, and roughly half the text describes costume — velvet slippers, gold braid, wide ribbons of embroidery, rich fabrics of all colors, threads of precious metals, men dressed as Egyptians, the king à la Troyen, women as harpies….
The account of an extravagant knightly competition, the Battle between Virtues and Love, fills twenty leaves. each of the eighteen participants presented to women in the audience a spectacular gold pendant displaying a mottoed emblematic cameo of his personal device. Each pendant woodcut is superbly executed and accompanied by an account of the presentation ceremony. Nine pendants, captioned in Greek, represent the Virtues; the other nine, captioned in Latin, concern Love. Five of the Greek Virtue emblems later passed to printer Fédéric II Morel, who used them as devices. The sole copy of the Recueil in U.S. collections is considerably smaller (216 x 152 mm., in a contemporary binding). In good condition (title soiled, five blank corners neatly repaired), armorial bookplate of comte René de Galard-Brassac-Béarn (1862-1919).
¶Ruggieri, Catalogue (3-11.III.1873) 268; Praz, Studies in 17th-Century Imagery 570; Watanabe-O’Kelly & Simon, Festivals & Ceremonies 1633; Mortimer, French 16th Century Books 204; Brun, Le Livre illustré en France au XVIe siècle 61 & 180-1 & fig. 10; Brunet IV: 1143 & Suppl. II: 424.
Price: $13,500.00