Félibien, Description sommaire du Chateau de Versailles, 1674, contemporary calf

Félibien, André. Description sommaire du Chasteau de Versailles. Paris: [Guillaume Desprez], 1674

An uncommon short and early work on the Palace of Versailles (expanded by Louis XIV from the 1660s onwards), recorded in just a handful of copies, though another edition from 1674 features the same engraved plan (and letterpress key) of Versailles, with the imprint of Guillaume Desprez. Félibien was the author of numerous works on Versailles, about both the building and the celebrations held there, and in this early work he also explained the meaning of some of the decorative features of the palace, such as the use of the sun motif throughout.

12mo (136 x 78 mm). Roman type, 21 lines. collation: A-H^8.4 I⁴: 52 leaves. Woodcut vignette on title-page, woodcut initial, head- and tailpiece, full-page engraving on final leaf. (Left hand edge of engraving in gutter.)

binding: Contemporary calf, spine gilt in compartments, red speckled edges. (Binding somewhat worn at corners and ends of spine, foot of spine defective.)

provenance: Grangion(?), signature on inside front cover. acquisition: Purchased in 1991 from E.K. Schreiber, New York. references: Not in the standard architectural literature.