CESAR (Jules) - Lot 28

Lot n° 28
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3000 - 4000 EUR
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Result : 4 423EUR
CESAR (Jules) - Lot 28
CESAR (Jules) Les Commentaires des guerres de la Gaule. Paris, Pour Abel L'Angelier, 1584. In-4 of (17) ff. 660 pp. (including the blank CC4 leaf, which does not count in the pagination), (34) ff. vellum, gilt fillet, gilt crown of foliage in the centre with a number in the middle composed of the initials D, E and M, smooth spine decorated with a small repeated fleuron, set of double gilt fillets drawing false rings, gilt title at the head, gilt edges (period binding). French translation by Blaise de Vigenère, first published in 1576. Carefully printed edition by Pierre Chevillot for Abel L'Angelier, decorated with two large and beautiful woodcut portraits (Julius Caesar and Henry III), a full-page map, sixteen woodcuts in the text depicting fortifications and sieges, views of cities and animals, and a few technical figures. It includes numerous Annotations by the translator: these, which take up a large part of the volume (pp. 389-660), give information on the legions and military discipline of the Romans, the explanation of some terms of ancient fortifications, clarifications on the passage of the Alps or the description of animals such as the buffalo and the elk. A scholar and poet born in Saint-Pourçain, Blaise de Vigenère (1523-1596) was one of the main translators during the reign of Henri III: after the eight books of the Guerres des Gaules, he gave, among other things, a translation of the famous Images ou Tableaux de platte peinture by Philostratus (1578) A superb copy in gilt vellum, bound for an amateur of the period, with an elegant wreath of foliage stamped on the centre of the boards. Spots on a few leaves, more or less significant wetness in the margins of the last 8 quires. (Balsamo & Simonin, Abel L'Angelier, no. 102. - Brun, p. 151.)
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