BEAUJEU (Christophe de).

Lot 10
Go to lot
Estimation :
3000 - 4000 EUR
BEAUJEU (Christophe de).
Ɵ The Loves. Together, the first book of the Swiss. Paris, Didier Millot, 1589. In-4, green morocco, jansenist, interior lace, gilt edges (Thompson). First edition, of great rarity, of the poems of this Huguenot soldier-poet. It is dedicated to the magistrate and jurisconsult Barnabé Brisson. Christophe de Beaujeu distinguished himself during the wars of religion by serving under the orders of Henri III. Fallen in disgrace, he took refuge in Italy and then in Switzerland, where Henri IV entrusted him, in 1589, with a military command. In this collection, the poet relates his love for a young Swiss woman, Rose, to the famous Greek tale of Theagene and Chariclea. [In numerous sonnets, laments, quatrains and other pieces, he sings of his love for Rose, celebrating her beauty and deploring her cruelty. The last leaves contain the First book of Suysse where the poet mixes his reflections on this country with the echo of the torments inflicted on him by his beloved; he planned to complete this poem with eleven other songs which never saw the light of day (cat. Berès, Des Valois à Henri IV, n°22). The Premier livre de la Suisse is in continuous pagination, but has a special title page. A woodcut vignette adorns each title: the first one represents two horsemen leaving a palace, the other one depicts a horseman accompanied by his lady in amazon in the middle of a troop of people at arms. As usual with most of the poets he studied, Viollet-le-Duc, in his Bibliothèque poétique, was severe towards Beaujeu. J. P. Barbier-Mueller did not spare him either: One will perhaps find it curious that a Swiss bibliophile is not more interested in an unknown, author of a poem entitled "La Suisse"... I will answer to that that even in a fit of over-acute chauvinism, nothing and nobody will be able to make me declare interesting such bad verses. Handwritten bookplate on one of the endpapers: Fourgeaud-Lagrèze 1861. A slightly short copy at the head. Small trace of moisture at the bottom corner of a few leaves. Marginal restoration to the title, second introductory leaf and last leaf. Lower corner of folio 256 torn with loss of a letter. J. P. Barbier-Mueller, IV-1, n°22. - Picot, Rothschild, n°2942. - Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°41.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue