A Paris Pour Lucas Breyer Marchant libraire, 1573. Avec privilège du Roy. 8vo.
Les Amours de Ian Antoine de Baif. A Monseigneur le duc d’Anjou fils et frere de Roy.
A Paris, Pour Lucas Breyer, 1572. 8vo.
Les Jeux. De Ian Antoine de Baïf. A Monseigneur le duc d’Alençon.
A Paris, Pour Lucas Breyer, 1572. Avec privilège du Roy. 8vo.
Les Passe-temps de Ian Antoine de Baïf. A Monseigneur le Grand Prieur.
A Paris, Pour Lucien Breyer, 1573. Avec privilège du Roi. 8vo.
Together 4 volumes 8vo. Blue morocco, floral fleuron in the middle of the covers, spines ribbed and decorated, inner border, gilt edges. Trautz-Bauzonnet.
162 x 98 mm.
First edition of the Oeuvres en rime, of Les Jeux and Les Passe-temps of Baïf and first collected edition of his total body of work.
Baïf was chosen by Ronsard among the six best poets from the famous “Brigade” to form the Pleiade.
“These poetries are much sought-after and are hardly found complete” already mentioned Brunet in 1863.
Exceedingly rare first collected edition, mostly original, one of the most sought-after from the Pleiade.
Superb homogenous printing for the four volumes, in thin italics. The typographical blocks are also used in an harmonious way along the volumes.
It gathers:
– Les Amours. A Paris, Pour Lucas Breyer, 1572. (8) ll. and 232 ll. Partly original. Contains 6 poems by Etienne de la Boetie.
– Les Jeux. A Paris, Pour Lucas Breyer, 1572. (4) ll. and 232 ll., the last one wrongly numbered 230. The date on the title has been corrected, as often, with the adjunction of a I to mdlxxii. First edition.
– Œuvres en Rime. A Paris, Pour Lucas Breyer, 1573. (10) ll. and 272 ll. Complete with the privilege and the exceedingly rare leaf a10, blank with a fleuron. Partly original.
– Les Passetems. A Paris, Pour Lucas Breyer, 1573. (4) ll. and 128 ll. wrongly numbered 126. First edition.
Tchemerzine, pp. 268-279 ; Jean Vignes, « Henri III et Jean-Antoine de Baïf, mécénat rêvé, mécénat réel », in Henri III mécène des arts, des sciences et des lettres, 2006, pp. 144 et suiv.
Superb copy with very wide margins (height: 162 mm compared to 157 mm for the copy bound by Lortic sold for 245 000 FF (37 000 €) on May 17, 1991, 29 years ago, and 156 mm for H. Duruy’s copy sold for 45 000 € on December 15, 2006, 14 years ago).
Brunet explains that these four volumes are very sought-after and are rarely found together.
From the collections Robert Hoe and John Whipple Frothingham with ex libris.
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