[MILITARY PLAYING CARDS.]

Jeu de la guerre.

[Paris, Jean Mariette, circa 1692.] 12mo (120 x 75 mm), ff. [1, double-page dedication], 52 (playing cards), [1, double-page plan]; engraved throughout; eighteenth-century calf; slightly worn at head and foot of spine; gilt spine; early bookplate of C. G. Lieven. A bound set of military playing cards. ‘Ce jeu fournit l’explication de “tout ce qui s’observe dans les marches et campements des armées” ’ (Gumuchian). It is dedicated to the illustrious and youthful students of the prestigious College de Louis le Grand, formerly College de Clermont but renamed following Louis XIV’s visit to it in 1682 when he declared it a royal foundation. They were drawn by Gilles de La Boissière and engraved by Pierre Le Paintre. Each card depicts different forms of fortifications, which alongside the bastions, ravelins, and ramparts include mathematical measurements, draw bridges and fortified chateaux. Mariette was ‘an eminent French engraver and print-seller’ (Bryan, Bryan’s dictionary of painters and engravers III p. 285), specialising in frontispieces, vignettes and book ornaments.Gumuchian 3304.

• GBP 5,250.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: T2709

• bookseller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)