MISSON, Maximilien - Lot 33

MISSON, Maximilien Nouveau Voyage d'Italie. Avec un Mémoire contenant des avis utiles à ceux qui voudront faire le mesme voyage. The Hague, Henry van Bulderen, 1698 THE BEST EDITION OF ONE OF THE GREATEST WORKS ON THE GRAND TOUR: THE TRUE "BAEDEKER" OF ITALY IN THE 18th CENTURY. A DELIGHTFUL COPY WITH BINDING ATTRIBUTABLE TO LUC-ANTOINE BOYET. RARE IN SUCH CONDITION Third edition "much increased, & enriched with new figures" 3 volumes in-12 (153 x 92mm). Titles printed in red and black with a woodcut vignette printed in the center. Dedicatory preface to the Earl of Arran, with his arms engraved in a headband, woodcut initials and woodcut culs-de-lampe. ILLUSTRATION: an allegorical frontispiece dated 1698 and 75 copper-engraved PLATES, including 40 fold-outs, and an hors-texte table of the various measures of Italy (t. III, p. 413). Vol. I: 28 plates, including 19 fold-outs; vol. II: 40 plates including 19 fold-outs and 3 showing two subjects each; t. III: 7 plates including 2 fold-outs CONTEMPORARY BINDINGS BY LUC-ANTOINE BOYET. Red morocco, gilded decoration, large fleuron in the corners, triple fillets, highly ornate ribbed spines with a small sunburst iron at the tail of each spine, edges gilded over marbling. PROVENANCE : Comte de Sinéty (engraved bookplate; see Catalogue des livres anciens de choix, manuscrits et imprimés faisant partie de la bibliothèque de M. de Sinéty, Paris, A. Labitte, 1880 and 1882) -- Paris, February 20, 2015, no. 108 Small restored tear on p. 81 of vol. I, one of the plates of vol. I poorly bound (p. 174) Maximilien Misson (1650-1722), son of the pastor of the small Normandy town of Sainte-Mère-Église, was destined for the pastorate and studied in Geneva. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) exiled him to England, where he gave up an ecclesiastical career to become tutor to a young British aristocrat: Charles Butler, Earl of Arran and third Duke of Ormond (1671-1758). From 1686 to 1688, they traveled throughout Europe for three years. The letters they sent on this Grand Tour form the basis of the Nouveau Voyage d'Italie. The work first appeared in two volumes (1691 and 1694), with a third volume added in 1698. Written in epistolary form, it depicts the architectural features of the towns visited, local customs, costumes and even tax systems. The 1698 edition contains forty-one letters and is not restricted to Italy, but also extends to Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. The work underwent numerous editions in the 18th century, and was translated into English, German and Dutch. The book is a paradox in itself: intended for travelers in Catholic Italy, it was written by a fiercely anti-papist Huguenot. A huge bestseller, the Nouveau Voyage d'Italie served as a vademecum for European travelers of the Enlightenment, Catholics included. Misson's Italy left its mark on Enlightenment travelers such as President de Brosses. Misson's work is distinguished from other writings on Italy by a critical approach similar to that of Pierre Bayle. There is no praise here. Misson describes what he considers worthy of attention: churches, libraries, arsenals, castles, treasures and cabinets of curiosities. Among the latter, he cites the cabinet of the University of Leiden, that of M. Viati in Nuremberg, the castle of the Elector Palatine in Neuburg, and the cabinets of Ambras and Verona, which are described in detail. The text is always well-documented - both in its written and oral sources - and pleasant to read. Discreet irony is not the least charm of the discourse. The first volume is devoted to the crossing of Germany. The two travelers enter Italy via the Brenner and Trento, then on to Venice, Padua and Loreto. The second deals with Naples, Vesuvius and Rome. The third sees the itinerary of the two travelers move up towards Savoy and France. Then they visit Strasbourg and return to Venice for Carnival, before visiting Modena, Reggio, Pavia and Genoa, Rome again, then Lucca and Florence, whose principal paintings he describes at length (p. 220), Genoa again and Novi, etc. Misson also notes that "most of the young people sent to Italy by their parents are children who still have neither taste nor discernment". This guide is therefore aimed primarily at those with "some ability". Copies of the Misson, homogeneous and as well-bound as this one, are rare. The binding, with this small sun at the tail of the spine, can be attributed to Luc-Antoine Boyet. Note that Misson, opposed to Catholic doxa, is in this guide a supporter of Quietism, whose developments in Italy are well known. A Protestant, Misson appreciated