“Cette Vaste Réunion d’Ouvrages Importants”

(AUCTION CATALOGUE: AGUESSEAU (or DAGUESSEAU), Henri François & Jean Baptiste Paulin).

Catalogue des Livres imprimés et manuscrits, de la Bibliothèque de feu Monsieur d’Aguesseau, Doyen du Conseil…

xxxvi, 366 pp., one leaf (but lacking, as is often the case, the 12-page schedule of sale & the 80-page author index). 8vo, cont. speckled calf (two corners a bit worn, joints a little cracked but strong), flat spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: Gogué & Née de la Rochelle, 1785.

The rare sale catalogue of the great library of books and early manuscripts, many illuminated, founded by Henri François d’Aguesseau (1668-1751), Chancellor of France, a man of great learning. According to the preface of the catalogue he had acquired the collection of the poet Florent Chrestien (1541-1596), and his son Claude (b. 1567). His library passed to his second son, Jean Baptiste Paulin d’Aguesseau, Marquis de Mannoevre (1701-84) who considerably enlarged it. Between the two generations they created a most remarkable collection. The father and son employed fifteen versions of their coat-of-arms on their bindings. The sale included 5583 lots and was sold over a 57-day period. Payne and the Marquis de Méjanes were major buyers.

Very good copy, with some minor foxing. Short tear due to a paper flaw to title but with no loss of text. Bookplate of the great French bookseller Georges Heilbrun. As mentioned above, this copy lacks — as does the Grolier Club copy — the schedule of sale and index, but it does have a final leaf in which the auctioneers promise to deliver the index at no charge by the end of May 1785 to anyone who requests a copy.

❧ Gustave Brunet, Dictionnaire de Bibliologie Catholique, col. 405–“cette vaste réunion d’ouvrages importants.” Grolier Club, Printed Catalogues of French Books Auctions…1643-1830, 318–(lacking both the schedule of sale and author index). Guigard, II, p. 173. Peignot, p. 76.

Price: $2,500.00

Item ID: 5858