SATYRE MÉNIPÉE, de la vertu du Catholicon d'Espagne, et de la tenue des Etats de Paris ... Dernière édition ... augmentée de nouvelles Remarques et de plusieurs Pieces ... 3 vols.

Ratisbone, heirs of Matthias Kerner (i.e. Brussels, Foppens), 1752. With 1 engr. frontispiece in vol. II (of 3), 8 engr. folding plates (of which 3 portraits), engr. text illus. in vol. I. Title, 4 unn. leaves, XXXVI, 464 pp., 14 unn. leaves index; title, 2 unn. leaves, 522 pp., 19 unn. leaves index; title, 1 leaf, 596 pp., 18 unn. leaves index (last blank). 8vo. Contemp. marbled calf over five raised bands, spine gilt with spine label (top of spine of vol. II worn). Ratisbone, heirs of Matthias Kerner (i.e. Brussels, Foppens), 1752. The last of four 18th-century editions of the "Satyre Menipée", first published in 1593, borrowing its title from the Greek satyrical author Menippos (c. 280 B.C.). The collective work of Jean Le Roy, Jacques Gillot, Florent Chréstien, Nicolas Rapin, Pierre Pithou, and Jean Passerat was aimed at the Catholic "Ligue" and in defense of the Huguenot movement, advocating tolerance and religious peace. The main subject of the book is the satyrical description of the "Etats de la Ligue", the assembly of the members of the French Catholic league. When the pamphlet was written, the "Ligue" was already defeated, and King Henry IV, though converted to Catholicism, was in a peaceful agreement with the Protestants. Nevertheless, in the text all parties found in some way a mirror of their own sentiments, and thus the book was widely read, often enlarged and annotated. The annotations here are by P. Du Puy, Jacob le Duchat, Prosper Marchand, and J. Godefroy. The fictitious impressum "Ratisbonne, Kerner" has been used (according to Barbier) since the 1664 edition printed by Elzevier in Amsterdam, and stood later for other places and printers like Amsterdam, Desbordes (ed. of 1696) or Bruxelles, Foppens (ed. of 1726 and the present ed.). The plates in our copy seem not to correspond entirely with the ones described by Cohen/de Ricci, Sander, or Lewine. Among the plates present are the two depictions of the procession and the assembly of the "Ligue", and the portraits of Barnabe Brisson, Charles de Lorraine, and Seigneur Agnoste. - Ms. notes on first flyleaf of vol. I. A very good, spotless set. - Cohen/de Ricci 939; Lewine 497; Sander 1803; cf. Barbier IV, 426; Brunet V, 145 (both not quoting the present edition); Cioranescu (18th cent.) 38470 (ed. of 1696 attributed to J. Le Duchat); Cioranesco (16th cent.) 20352 (1726 issue of this Foppens ed., a.o.); Quérard, La France littéraire V, 71 (Duchat as author of annotations to the "Satyre"). LITERATURE: FRENCH ; ILLUSTRIERTE BÜCHER [VOR 1900] ; ILLUSTRATED BOOKS (BEFORE 1900) ;