Mornay, Philippe de

4to (237 x 161mm.), woodcut device on title-page, ruled in red throughout, contemporary French gold-tooled olive morocco, sides covered with small tools of flowers, knots, feathers, flames and an "s fermé", with a border composed of leafy sprays, empty wreaths in centre of covers, flat spine similarly gilt, edges gilt and gauffered, lacking pp.1-16 (sig. A), some small tears in corners and upper margins of first few pages, occasional slight damp-staining, hole in centre of lower cover, joints slightly cracked at head and foot

Paul Coulletz (Huguenot pastor active in the pays messin, born Metz, 1639), inscription dated 1675; Law Society, armorial bookplate

Rép. bibl. xviie siècle, Saumur 14

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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In a public disputation held at Fontainebleau in May 1600, Philippe de Mornay answered Jacques du Perron's criticisms of his De L'institution, usage et doctrine du saint sacrement de l'eucharistie en l'église ancienne, published in 1598. He suffered a humiliating defeat, largely because his unflinching commitment to the Protestant cause had by this point lost him the support of Henri IV. The present work was written in answer to du Perron's Actes de la conference tenue entre le sieur Euesque d'Eureux et le sieur du Plessis. De Mornay had founded the Huguenot Academy of Saumur in 1593.

The binding is very similar in style to those commissioned by Pietro Duodo (1554-1611) in Paris at the turn of the seventeenth century. The tool used for the border of leafy sprays is identical (see Esmerian catalogue, nos 59-61) and it is indeed used in a similar and not quite symmetrical fashion; it is most likely that this binding comes from the same Parisian workshop as Duodo's (see Hobson, Italian and French 16th-Century Bookbindings, nos 69 and 74, the latter of which also has blank ovals for arms to be added). The individual tools are those found on fanfare bindings, but the overall effect is different. Philippe de Mornay, the author of this work, had his own books bound in fanfare bindings (see Hobson, Les reliures à la fanfare, no. 122).