Carles, Lancelot de. 1508-1568.

Dispvte, Qv’Il Est Necessaire A Vn Grand Prince Sçauoir les Lettres, & que par ce moye[n] la vertu se peult apprendre.

Paris, C. Wechel 1548.

4to (184 x 115 mm.). 45, [3]p.

Contemporary French gilt calf (rebacked preserving most of the original spine), blind-ruled outer and inner frames, gilt corner fleurons and center ornament, yellow edges, manuscript titles on the top edge of the book block.

            Only Edition. Written at the request of Queen Catherine de’ Medici for her four-year-old son François (1544-60), this Mirror of Princes is “THE ONLY ONE...THAT SEEMS TO ADDRESS ITSELF TO A REAL PRINCE NOT ENDOWED WITH GREAT INTELLECTUAL POWERS” (Hallowell). The dialog between the poet-diplomat author and Pietro Strozzi, a respected Italian general in the service of France, treats the relative merits of literary and martial training, children’s educational development and the knowledge required to rule. Both men agree a humanist education best cultivates princely virtue and judgement. But this prince, rather than mastering Greek, Latin and dialectic, need only study what is “relevant to his work and helps him to live well and happily” (p. 25, tr.). Carles’ emphasis on personal inclination and the pleasure of learning presages Montaigne’s. I find copies in Bern, Paris, Vienna and Wolfenbüttel. In good condition, ownership inscriptions of “Franciscus” (dated 1558 and partially effaced), of Giovanni Battista Lovera, of the Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan) and of the Franciscan Convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Brera (Milan) and bookplate of David R. Godine. The rear flyleaf and pastedown contain about 170 words of annotation — largely Biblical quotations relating to the Last Supper.
            Bound in front is a modest copy of Jean de Gaigny’s Psalmi Davidici Septvaginta Qvinqve (1547, 8vo) PRINTED IN HIS HOUSE AT HIS PRIVATE PRESS by his nephew Nicolas Le Riche IN TWO ITALIC TYPES DIRECTLY IMITATING ALDUS’ ELEGANT FONTS. See Jammes & Barker’s “Jean de Gagny: A Bibliophile Re-Discovered” in The Library 11 (2010) 405-544 & fig. 3 and Renouard’s Annales de l’imprimerie des Alde 345.
¶Hallowell, “‘Prince humaniste ou prince chevaleresque’: a French Renaissance Debate” in French Renaissance Studies in Honor of Isidore Silver ed. Brown 173-183; Kelso, “Supplementary Bibliographical List for The Gentleman” in Doctrine for the Lady of the Renaissance 164; BP16_113121.

Item #12583

Price: $7,500.00