Paris, Antoine, de Sommaville, 1636.
A total of 2 works bound in 1 12mo volume [170 x 116 mm] of: I/ (8) ll., 309 pp., breaks in the pagination p. 220 and 298 not affecting the text; II/ (6) ll., 284 pp., break in the pagination p. 227. Full contemporary limp vellum, flat spine with the handwritten title at the top. Contemporary binding.
Extremely rare first edition of this colletion of Letters by Urbain Chevreau (1613-1701), of which no copy has appeared on the national and international public market for a half-century.
“Urbain Chevreau would be poorly appreciated if we were to judge him only by his plays, works of his youth. He was a very scholar man, who had spent 60 000 fr. at least to create a book collection, more remarkable by the choice of the books than by their amount.” (Brunet, I, 1841).
“Born in Loudun and author of several books, and among others of a universal history if which were made several editions, Chevreau died in his birth town in February 15th, 1701, at the age of 87. Look at his eulogy in the Journal de Trévoux. Joly, after the testimony of Father Jacob, talks about ‘Lettres nouvelles’ by Chevreau that would have been printed by Sommaville in 1646, 8vo. Father Jacob is the only one who talks about this volume.” (Dictionnaire historique et critique de Pierre Bayle, V, p. 131).
A second work by Chevreau, a translation into French of the Lettres de Joseph Hall, has been bound after.
A precious copy bearing a handwritten ex-dono by the author on the title page: “Pour M. Hercules de Salis Capitaine au Regiment des Gardes Suisses par son très humble et très obéissant serviteur Chevreau”.
A very beautiful and very wide-margined copy preserved in its contemporary limp vellum binding.
Our research allowed us to locate only 4 copies in the French public Institutions: Valognes, Aix-en-Provence, B.n.F. and Le Mans.
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