Red morocco signed Brany - Lot 638

Lot 638
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Estimation :
2000 - 3000 EUR
Red morocco signed Brany - Lot 638
Red morocco signed Brany [MARGUERITE de NAVARRE] Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite de Valois, reine de Navarre, mis en beau langage, accomodé au goût de ce temps : & enrichis de figures en taille-douce. Amsterdam, Gallet, 1698. 2 volumes in-12 : 15f, 374pp, 3f / 318pp, 4f ; illustrated with a frontispiece by Goérée engraved by Vianen, and 72 mid-page intaglio engravings. Often attributed to Romain de Hooghe, these engravings are probably by Jan Harrewijn. Red morocco signed BRANY, spine ribbed richly decorated with palettes, scrolls, and foliage with crowned M and fleur-de-lis alternating, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, double gilt fillet on the edges, midnight blue morocco lining decorated with gilt lace, oval mosaic beige morocco spandrels bearing a gilt fleur-de-lis, gilt edges. Very nice copy in doubled morocco. First edition under the title of Contes et Nouvelles and not under that of Heptameron. Delightful illustration in first edition. Each short story is staged in a lively and spirited style, with a predilection for closed spaces, interiors and bedrooms. Marguerite de Navarre, who died in 1549, left unfinished (72 short stories out of 100) what was the first and most famous collection of short stories in the Italian style. The first edition, incomplete, appeared in 1588. The work was a tremendous and lasting success. "It is one of the greatest masterpieces of the psychological novel in France. There is perhaps not, before the Nouvelle Héloïse, a novel which is so authentically a work of research, where the author has committed himself" (Coulet, pp. 121-128)(Cohen 680)(Tchémerzine IV, 383). Provenance: From the library of Thomas Powell, an engineer of English origin settled in Rouen, with his TP bookplate with the mention "Gwell Angau Neu Chivilydd", motto of the Royal Regiment of Wales. His library was sold in Paris in 1888.
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