FROISSART.

Histoire et chronique memorable ... revev et corrige sus divers examplaires, et suivant les bons auteurs, par Denis Sauvage ...

Paris, Gervais Mallot, 1574. Four vols. in one, folio, pp. [16], 423, [29]; [12], 288, [4]; [8], 333, [3]; [8], 324, woodcut printer's device on titles; small repairs to first few leaves with loss of one letter, else a good crisp copy, rebound preserving the original leather covers, gilt stamped centrepiece; ownership signatures of Henry Cobham, 1581 (see below) and W. Stubbes. Second edition edited by Denis Sauvage, historiographer to Henri II; one of a number of simultaneous issues with varying imprints. The text is preceded by an extremely interesting Advertissement which shows what an unusual emphasis Sauvage laid on the correctness of texts and on the importance of the earlier, uncorrupted, versions. His version was severely attacked by Jean le Laboureur in the 17th century, probably on account of his adoption of 16th-century orthography.With the signature on title of Sir Henry Brooke (1537-1592), who pursued a family eccentricity in signing his name with the family title Cobham. A major figure in the Elizabethan diplomatic cadre, he was appointed ambassador to France, the premier European posting, in 1579. 'Views of Cobham's French embassy have varied, from grouping him with Elizabethan colleagues with a "wary distaste for their host country" to finding him "a particularly effective vehicle for fostering the burgeoning friendship between the two realms" (Leimon and Parker, 1134; Bell, 'Men and their rewards', 211). The second judgement is the more true, but the first still describes Cobham's faults accurately. He regarded Henri III and Catherine de' Medici as unreliable, "removing princes" (PRO, SP 78/5/80). As for Catherine, "he trusteth nothinge thatt she says tyll he see yt doone" (PRO, SP 78/4/138)' (Oxford DNB). He returned to England in 1583.Tchemerzine, III, 388.

• GBP 2,400.00 > Andere Währungen
• Bestellnummer: C1192

• Antiquariat: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)