Priced in a Contemporary Hand; With the Rare Portrait
Bibliotheca Fayana, seu Catalogus Librorum Bibliothecae…de Cisternay Du Fay…digestus & descriptus a Gabriele Martin…cum Indice Auctorum alphabetico.
Engraved frontis. port. of the collector & an engraved vignette on title. 6 p.l., xxii, 450, 107*, [1] pp., 27 leaves. 8vo, cont. sheep (upper joint partly cracked but very strong), spine nicely gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: G. Martin, 1725.
One of the finest French 18th-century collections; the sale catalogue of the library of Charles Jérôme de Cisternay Du Fay (1662-1723), is considered to be the best of those compiled by Gabriel Martin, who made Paris the international center for the sale of rare books by auction. Du Fay, after losing his leg in the bombardment of Brussels in 1695, retired from the military and devoted the rest of his life to collecting rare books and manuscripts. Buying from all the leading dealers in Europe, he formed a superb museum of literary rarities. Du Fay was advised by his friend and notable book collector Michel Brochard, professor at the Collège Mazarin, who was the author of the notice in Latin preceding the catalogue. Du Fay became an outstanding connoisseur, a friend of eminent savants and authors, including Fontenelle, and was in contact with the best booksellers of Europe. Many of his books ultimately found their way to Count d’Hoym.
Priced throughout in a contemporary hand. 4414 lots, including early MSS. and bindings. Very nice copy with the rare portrait.
❧ Grolier Club, Printed Catalogues of French Book Auctions…1643-1830, 22. Peignot, p. 96–“Catalogue bien fait d’une bibliothèque riche et bien composée.” Pollard & Ehrman no. 269. Taylor, Book Catalogues, pp. 207, 226, & 239.
Price: $2,950.00
Item ID: 5921
