La Sabliere, (Antoine de Rambouillet de)

Madrigaux

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Paris [Imprimerie de Jules Didot Aine] N. Delangle, Editeur 1825 Woodcut head and tail pieces and initials. 12mo. [152 x 95 x 16 mm]. [4]ff, clxxvi pp. Contemporary binding by Purgold (signed in gilt at the foot of the spine) of straight-grained green goatskin, the covers tooled in gilt with a border of four double fillets, interlinking at the corners, and a panel of double fillets with arabesque ornaments at the corners. The spine divided into five panels with thick bands with gilt compartments, lettered in the second panel, the others filled with various small tools, the edges of the boards tooled with a single gilt fillet and the turn-ins with four gilt fillets, marlbed endleaves, gilt edges. First published in Paris in 1680. This edition was the first of nine volumes published under the direction of Charles Nodier as Collection de Petits Classiques François<n> in 1825-26. It was dedicated to the Duchess De Berry and was limited to 500 copies. It is a charming production, embellished with some delighful woodcuts. This is a very fine copy in an exquisite binding by Jean-Georges Purgold, "Le prince des reliurs de son temps" (Lesne, "La Reliure", Paris 1820). He was also know to his contemporaries as "Le Vétilleux" - the "perfectionist" or "fuss-pot". With Simier and Thouvenin, Purgold was one of the three indisputable master binders in France during the Romantic period, and in Ramsden's judgement he was "perhaps the best binder of the three from a technical point of view". He was born in Darmstadt in c.1784, and after moving to Paris is said to have trained with Bozerian and Lefebvre. He established his own bindery in 1810, and in 1816 he was located at rue Dauphine 35. Antoine Bauzonnet worked for him from 1820, and he took over the bindery after Purgold's death in 1830 and also married his widow.