MARGUERITE D'ANGOULÊME, Queen of Navarre - Lot 434

MARGUERITE D'ANGOULÊME, Queen of Navarre L'Heptameron ou histoire des amans fortunez des nouvelles de très illustre et très excellente Princesse Marguerite de Valois, royne de Navarre. Remis en son vray ordre, conçus au paravant en sa première impression: et dédié à très illustre et très vertueuse Princesse Jeanne, Reyne de Navarre, par Claude Gruget Parisien. Lyon, Cluquemin, 1572. In-16: 811pp, 6f (tables). Nineteenth century midnight blue morocco signed THIBARON-JOLY, ornate ribbed spine, triple fillet framing the boards, double gilt fillet on the edges, inner gilt garland, very slight rubbing, gilt edges. A very fine copy. Rare 16th-century Lyon edition in in-16 format, based on the text of 1559 and 1560, of which we are looking for well-preserved copies, which is the case of this one. L'Heptaméron, an unfinished, posthumous collection by Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême (1492-1549), sister of François I and Queen of Navarre through her marriage to Henri II d'Albret, consists of seventy-two short stories, narrated and discussed by different characters. Love (carnal love, deception and mischief) is the main subject of the work. The saucy tales of debauched monks and priests bear witness not only to medieval anticlericalism, but also to Marguerite's evangelical thinking. The debate over the perfect lover is also addressed (Tchemerzine IV, 377)(Brunet III, 1416). Provenances: Ex-libris printed in color with the arms of the Massari-Zavaglia family and ex-libris printed in black of the Yves Cazaux library.