LESPY (Jean Désiré Victor dit Vastin) - RAYMOND (Paul) - Lot 240

LESPY (Jean Désiré Victor dit Vastin) - RAYMOND (Paul) Dictionnaire Béarnais Ancien et Moderne. Montpellier, imp. Centrale du Midi (Hamelin frères), 1887. 2 volumes in-8. Contemporary ½ blond calf with corners, ornate ribbed spines, red titles and endpapers. A fine copy. A fundamental work that remains unequalled. Paul RAYMOND died in 1878 while "working with his learned friend M.V. LESPY, on a Béarnais dictionary, conceived along the lines of M. Littré's dictionary and following the words in the series of their historical phases from their earliest written origins". The dictionary was almost complete by this date. It would take almost ten years for it to actually appear. Provenance: Copy of Mr. J. Stewart (printed) and printed bookplate.