In fine : Imprimez nouvellement a Poictiers par Jacques Bouchet Imprimeur le vingt sixiesme iour de Jàvier Lan Mil cinq cens vingt et sept (1527).
4to of (9) ll. including the title, (1) bl.l., (8) ll., 154 ll., 57 wood-engraved portraits, 1 full-page woodcut. (This engraving represents the Troy fire and can already be seen in the Histoire de Clotaire). Written in prose and verse. Stamp repeated on the title, the blank leaf and the first text leaf. Gothic, green jansenist morocco, triple gilt fillet around the covers, spine ribbed decorated with blind-stamped fillets, gilt edges. Bauzonnet.
180 x 123 mm.
Exceedingly rare first edition, particularly when complete. It is missing from the collection James de Rothschild who owned 3 reprints: (n°2092) – Paris, 1536 ; (n°2093) – Paris, 1537 et (n°510) – Paris, 1545.
“The privilege is missing from most copies” (Brunet, I, 1158); it is present in this copy.
“First very rare edition of this work in prose and verse that honours the press of Jacques Bouchet in Poitiers.
The 57 wood-engraved portraits it contains are very well engraved and are of the highest interest for the history of xylography in France.” (A. Firmin-Didot)
On leaf A an epistle by Jehan Bouchet starts “A tres-hault, trespuissant et tresillustre prince, monsieur Françoys, premier enfant et daulphin de France ».
The work contains a long introduction about the origin of the kings of France, and then notices in prose and epitaphs in verse dedicated to each king of France since Pharamond up to Louis XII. Jehan Bouchet collected all the legends that circulated in the Middle Ages regarding the migrations of the Trojans and the empires founded by the descendants of Priam and Hector.
Precious fine copy mentioned and described by Tchemerzine bearing a black ink stamp repeated “ex bibliotheca J. Richard” and coming from the collections Ambroise Firmin-Didot (1881, n°514), Marigues de Champ-Repus and Edouard Rahir (n°423): “it contains the privilege leaf which is most of the time missing” (E. Rahir).
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