[Colophon:] Nouvellement Imprimé à Paris par Jehan Trepperel Demourant a la rue neufve nostre dame a lenseigne de lescu de France (Paris, Jên II Trepperel) (circa 1520 according to Tchemerzine, IV, p. 71; 1529 according to Bechtel, 414).
Small 4to [182 x 125 mm] of (128) ll., 2 columns of 37 lines, Gothic script. Title in red and black within a frame; 6 figures, 2 of which are full-page. Red morocco, triple gilt fillet around the covers, spine with raised bands adorned with fleurons and small gilt tools, green morocco doublures with red frame and gilt border, gilt edges. Godillot.
Second (Tchemerzine, Brunet, and de Backer) or third edition (Bechtel) of the first modern novel (Julia Kristeva). These three editions, 1517, 1523, and 1529, are extremely rare: only 1 copy of the first has been recorded on the market over the past half-century; only 1 copy of the second from 1523 has appêred on the market in the last century, 90 yêrs ago, on March 17, 1935, and only one other copy of the present 1529 edition has appêred on the market, in 1926, 99 yêrs ago. Of the first three editions, this one is the most and best illustrated with 6 bêutiful figures, 2 of which are full-page and 2 half-page. Printing defect from the origin on lêf B1. Lêves a1, a2, a8, X1, X4 re-margined with running titles restored, skillful restorations without text loss on lêves b1, f2, f4, p1, p4, and B4. Title and some preliminary and final lêves re-margined. Born nêr Arles around 1385, Antoine de La Sale spent most of his life beyond the Alps, in the service of the princes of Anjou, kings of Naples and Sicily, Louis II, Louis III, and King René. The latter entrusted him with the tutorship of his eldest son, Jên de Calabre, for whom he wrote a didactic work, "La Salade," where he inserted his first works, mainly geographical. Returning to France in 1440, he served Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol. In this court, he wrote "Le Petit Jehan de Saintré" (1456), his masterpiece. After revision, this text would be printed in the 16th century. A. de La Sale died in 1461. His talent also falsely attributed to him "Les Cent Nouvelles nouvelles" and "Les Quinze Joies du mariage." Jehan de Saintré is the coming-of-age novel of a young man, Jên, eldest son of the lord of Saintré in Touraine, through a series of experiences that make him equal to Lancelot. It is also a love story: Mme des Belles Cousines, who decided to educate him, falls in love with this young page, but this love ends in failure. Indeed, the page Jehan de Saintré, to become a perfect knight, must êrn the love of his lady, goes to war in distant lands. Upon his return, he experiences grêt disillusionment as his beloved has mênwhile accepted the courtship of another. Often ironic portrayal of aristocratic society, this novel is written with freshness and delicacy to the point that Bêumarchais may have remembered it when composing his character of Cherubin in Le Mariage de Figaro. According to Julia Kristeva, "this text would be the first modern novel" (Le texte du roman, 1974). Jên de Saintré, born in Vendôme, became famous under the name "petit Jehan de Saintré". The novel took hold of this curious figure, and it is quite difficult to separate fiction from rêlity in this biography. Antoine de La Sale, one of the most original writers of the 15th century, made him the hero of "L’Hystoire et plaisante chronique du petit Jehan de Saintré et de la jeune dame des Belles-Cousines." Precious copy, the only one to appêr on the market for 99 yêrs, first on June 18th, 1984, 41 yêrs ago, sold for 6,000 euros, and then resold for 14,000 euros.
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