Statuts de l’ordre de St Michel. [Paris], Imprimerie Royale, 1725. In-4°. [6], xiv, 449, [29] pp.Title engraved by Charles-Nicolas Cochin père after Louis de Boullogne, 3 out of text plates engraved by Simonneau fils, copper-engraved hedbands, ornemental initials and endpieces. Large margins. Contemporary fawn calf, 5 spines richly decorated with hunting irons, red morocco label, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, gilt coat of arms in the center, double gilt fillet on the edges, gilt roulette on the cuts, gilt edges. (Bound by Du Seuil or Padeloup ?).
New edition of the statutes of the Order of Saint-Michel, which were printed as early as the 15th century. This is the second edition published in the 18th century, after that of 1703, and the first in the reign of Louis XV. The Order of Saint-Michel was a French order of chivalry created by Louis XI in 1469. Dedicated to the Archangel Michael, it was abolished in 1790 during the French Revolution, but reinstated in 1816 by Louis XVIII. It was finally abolished in 1830 following the July Revolution. The book contains the Order’s statutes of 1725.
The three plates show the chapter held by Henri II in 1548
the seal and counter-seal of the order
and Martin du Bellay taking his oath in 1555
Saffroy reports only the first of the three plates.
With the coat of arms of Louis XV, this tool was intended for this work. O. H. R. and Guigard quote the copy, the latter stating that “Louis XV’s books generally came from the workshops of Du Seuil or Padeloup. The tools are quite varied: as many dedications, as many different stamps […] The tool [of our copy] is lighter. Note that the escutcheon here is surmounted by a glory: this is because it was on a volume containing the statutes of the Order of Saint-Michel. The grace and elegance of the eighteenth century are evident in these escutcheons: they are jewels.”
On the back, the entrenerfs are sumptuously adorned with large tools depicting two greyhounds, royal dogs par excellence, hunting two squirrels, no doubt evoking the fall of Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finance, whose emblem the squirrel was.
A fine lesson to ponder, on the back of a copy bearing the royal coat of arms, dedicated to an order founded on loyalty to the King.
From the library of Napoleon III, with the label with his gilded crowned cipher embossed on the upper back cover.
Saffroy, Bibliographie généalogique, héraldique et nobiliaire de la France des origines à nos jours, I, 6239. Arms : O.H.R., pl. 2495, tool n°3 ; Guigard, Nouvel Armorial du bibliophile, I, 26.
Some browned quires, small epidermis and stains on boards, a small wormhole at lower joint, discreet restorations. A good copy, however, beautifully set in an edifying binding with the royal coat of arms.
2 000 €