[AMADIS of GAUL]. The 24 Books and the Treasury of All the A

lot/amadis of gaul the 24 books and the treasury of all the a lot 48 3mLiemC 633150368 / For sale

lot/amadis of gaul the 24 books and the treasury of all the a lot 48 3mLiemC 633150368

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lot/amadis of gaul the 24 books and the treasury of all the a lot 48 3mLiemC 633150368

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[AMADIS of GAUL]. The 24 Books and the Treasury of All the A - Lot 48

[AMADIS of GAUL]. The 24 Books and the Treasury of All the Amadis. Lyon, B. Rigaud, Didier, Cloquemin, Beraud, Tardif, Huguetan; Chambéry, Poumar; Paris, C. Rigaud, G. Robinot, 1575–1615. A total of twenty-three in-16 volumes and three in-8 volumes, 18th-century bindings in blue morocco, three fillets on the covers, spines decorated with grotesque motifs. A very rare complete set of the 24 books of *Amadis de Gaule* in French, in exceptional condition. The long publishing history of this celebrated Spanish chivalric novel began in 1508 with the publication in Zaragoza of the first four books of *Amadis de Gaula*, a work written at the end of the previous century by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo (1450–c. 1505) based on an earlier medieval novel in three books believed to date to the early 14th century, of which only a few brief fragments have survived. Montalvo would go on to write a fifth book, *Las Sargas de Esplandian*, devoted to the exploits of Amadis’s son, the earliest known edition of which dates from 1510. It mentions for the first time an island located east of the Indies and named California. The work would influence Cortés and the other Spanish conquistadors in their search for a new El Dorado. Enjoying considerable success throughout Europe, the saga of Amadis and his descendants—whose new version revitalized the chivalric romance by modernizing it—was expanded by various Spanish continuators (Books VI through XII—corresponding to Books 1 through 14 of the French version—published between 1510 and 1546), and then, between 1558 and 1565, by the Italian Mambrino Roseo da Fabriano (Books 15 through 20 of the French version edited by Gabriel Chappuys). The last three books, published in 1594 and 1595 in Frankfurt, are the work of an anonymous German author; translated exclusively into French—a translation that is also anonymous—they were published in Paris in 1615 in in-8 format, featuring a beautiful engraved frontispiece. In France, the novel’s success was amplified by the remarkable free translation of the first eight books (Spanish Books I through IX) produced between 1540 and 1548 in folio format by Nicolas Herberay des Essarts. This version—or adaptation—written in elegant and fluid language is today considered one of the earliest masterpieces of French prose. Following the death of des Essarts (1552), and still in folio format, came the French versions of Books IX (translated by Gilles Boileau and published in 1551, revised by Claude Collet in 1553), Books X–XI (translated by Jacques Gohory, 1552–53), and Book XII (translated by Guillaume Aubert, 1556). About fifteen years would pass before the publication, in 1571 and 1574, of Books XIII and XIV (the beginning and end of the Spanish Book XII) in translations by Jacques Gohory and Antoine Tyron. From that time on, the less expensive in-16 format became the standard. It was therefore also in this format that Gabriel Chappuys’s translations from Italian of Books XV through XXI were published in Lyon by various booksellers from 1577 to 1582. At the same time, and in order to standardize the collection, these same booksellers undertook to reprint the first fourteen volumes of the saga in in-16 format—still as separate publications. The few complete collections of the novel that have survived are thus almost always printed in this format (see Brunet I, 216). Composition of the copy: - Volumes 1 through 8 (translation from Spanish by Nicolas de Herberay). Eight in-16 volumes. Published in Lyon by Rigaud, 1575 (Volume 1) and Didier, 1577 (Volumes 2 through 8). - Volumes 9 through 14 (translations from Spanish by Claude Colet, volume 9; Jacques Gohory, volumes 10, 11, 13, and 14; Guillaume Aubert, volume 12). Five in-16 volumes. Published in Lyon by Rigaud (volumes 9, 1575; 11, 1576; 13, 1577) and Didier (volume 10, 1577); Chambéry, Poumar, 1575 (Volume 14). - Volumes 15–21 (translations from Italian by Gabriel Chappuys—volumes 15 through 19 and 21—and Jean Boyron—volume 20). Seven in-16 volumes. Published in Lyon by Rigaud, Michel, Cloquemin, Beraud, and Tardif, 1577–1582. First editions, with the exception of volume 20 (Lyon, Tardif, 1582). This last volume, which presents the first edition of Jean Boyron’s translation—a rival to that of Gabriel Chappuys—is one of the five variants noted by Brunet as being of interest to be included with copies of the series. Chappuys’s translation of this 20th volume in its first edition (Lyon, Cloquemin, 1581) is also included here, bound in an identical modern binding (see below). - Volumes 22 through 24 (anonymous translation from the German). Three in-8 volumes. Editions de Paris, Claude Rigaud and Gilles Robinot, 1615. First editions, dedicated respectively to the king, the queen mother, and the Princess of Conti, Louise de Lorraine. Beautiful engraved frontispiece divided into four scenes, signed by Jaspar Isaac, repeated on the three v

Estimate:£5,113.41

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