Thevet, André (1502-1590).

2 volumes in one, folio (390 x 248mm.), ff. [14], 664, [18], ruled in red throughout, illustration: engraved title-page to volume 2, full-page engraved portrait of Henri III on a2 verso, 222 half-page engraved portraits in the text, woodcut arabesque initials, head- and tail-pieces, binding: contemporary lyonnese or genevan inlaid binding of brown calf over double pasteboards, central inlaid panel of white leather decorated with azured tools around a central oval medallion of arabesque ornament, outer floral gilt border, interlacing gilt fillets partly painted in oxydised silver, on a semé of very small quatrefoils, corner-pieces composed of a jester's head, flat spine decorated with three shaped panels of interlacing fillets, the central one with a figure of a female term on a twisted plinth, gilt edges, lacking a1 (engraved title-page) and b5 of volume 1, tear in text of Nn3 without loss, portrait on Qq3 recto printed upside down, some light spotting, binding rubbed, joints split, spine faded, lacking headbands

Claude Rousselet, initials on cover and inscription on inside front cover (the jurisconsult and Lyonnese patrician, whose Epigrammata was published in Lyon in 1535, or perhaps his son); Nicolas-Joseph Foucault (1643-1721), bookplate

Mortimer, Harvard French 518

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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first edition of this fine collection of engraved portraits covering a wide range of subjects: classical authors, Church Fathers, medieval scholars, contemporary statesmen, scientists, explorers and rulers. Many of the engravings are loosely based on the woodcut portraits used in Thevet's earlier work La cosmographie universelle of 1575. In his preface to the present work Thevet writes at some length about the commissioning of the engravings (he sought the best engravers from Flanders), and the privilege (on c4 verso) is much more concerned with the engravings than the text. The work was re-published in an eight-volume 12mo set, with reduced copies of the portraits in 1670-1671.

The present copy is in a once-fine contemporary binding, similar to Genevan bindings, particularly with regard to the female term on the spine. A similar female term appears on the following bindings:

1. Richard von Schwarzenau Streun, Gentium et familiarum Romanorum stemmata (Geneva: Henri Estienne, 1559), in Schunke, Einbände der Palatina (1962), plate CLXIV
2. New Testament, Greek and Latin (Geneva: Henri Estienne, 1565), the J.R. Abbey sale in these rooms, 21 June 1965, lot 502 (now in the British Library, Henry Davis Gift)
3. Bible, French (Geneva: François Estienne, 1567), in R. Hoe, Historic and Artistic Bookbindings (1895), no. 44

These three bindings are Genevan, and the first two have been attributed to the Genevan "King's Binder" by Dr Ilse Schunke and Dr Mirjam Foot respectively. They are, however, several years earlier than the Thevet binding. Contacts between Geneva and Lyon were close, and the nearest comparison with the jester's heads on this volume is to be found on the extraordinary binding of a Bible printed in Paris in 1566, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which Jean Toulet considers Lyonnese (J. Toulet, "L'école lyonnaise de relieure" in Le siècle d'or de l'imprimerie lyonnaise, Paris 1972, fig. 142). The tools on the Thevet cannot be linked with those used by known Genevan workshops, and since the first owner was Lyonnese, the binding could well be of Lyonnese origin.