APULEIUS, Lucius (fl. c.155 A.D .). De l' asne dore: aultrement dict la couronne Ceres: contenant mainctes belles hystoires, delectantes fables & subtilles inventions de diuers propoz, speciallement de philosophie. Paris: Galliot du Pré, 31st July 1518.
APULEIUS, Lucius (fl. c.155 A.D .). De l' asne dore: aultrement dict la couronne Ceres: contenant mainctes belles hystoires, delectantes fables & subtilles inventions de diuers propoz, speciallement de philosophie. Paris: Galliot du Pré, 31st July 1518. Small 2º (256 x 178mm). Gothic type. Title with woodcut of a caparisoned mule on recto, repeated on r2v, royal arms on title verso, A2 with large initial P enclosing figure of a scribe, woodcut criblé initials, device of Galliot du Pré on verso of v3. (First few leaves soiled at margins, lighter marginal soiling occasionally elsewhere, h4 bound before h3, tiny marginal worming from t1 to end, t1-2 and v2-3 stained, without final blank v4.) 18th-century red French morocco for the duc de La Vallière, triple gilt fillets on sides, spine with raised bands, directly lettered in two panels, the remaining four with repeated fleuron and smaller tools, gilt turn-ins, gilt edges. Provenance : 16th-century(?) signature on title: S. Clergues(?) -- Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, duc de Vaujours, later duc de La Vallière (1708-1780; his sale, 1783, part II, lot 3843; price of 6 francs recorded on verso of front free endpaper). FIRST FRENCH EDITION, VERY RARE. THE MAGNIFICENT LA VALLIÈRE COPY. The book that from late antiquity became known all over Europe as the Golden Ass was written in Latin in the second century by Apuleius of Madauros as the eleven books of his Metamorphoses . It tells the story of a young man named Lucius who is transformed into an ass by applying a magic lotion and only returns to his human form after going through a series of adventures. Woven into the narrative are other famous tales, including the myth of Cupid and Psyche which has inspired painters, sculptors and writers ever since. The translation into French was undertaken by Guillaume Michel of Tours and is dedicated to the 'conseiller chambellan du roi Monseigneur le Prevost de Paris. Baron & seigneur Dalegre/Sainct Just/Meillan/Torzet/Sainct Dier & de Pussol'. The delicate title woodcut shows a donkey in full harness, led by a monkey with a flute in the foreground of a landscape. It was cut for this first French edition. In addition to the Fairfax Murray copy, there are only three other copies known in public libraries (Nantes, Caen and New York). Bechtel A-205; Brun pp. 112-113; Davies , Fairfax Murray French , 16, Brunet I, 364 (this copy); Renouard, Inventaire chronologique des é ditions parisiennes du XVI e siè cle , ed. by B. Moreau, 1518, no. 1744.
APULEIUS, Lucius (fl. c.155 A.D .). De l' asne dore: aultrement dict la couronne Ceres: contenant mainctes belles hystoires, delectantes fables & subtilles inventions de diuers propoz, speciallement de philosophie. Paris: Galliot du Pré, 31st July 1518.
APULEIUS, Lucius (fl. c.155 A.D .). De l' asne dore: aultrement dict la couronne Ceres: contenant mainctes belles hystoires, delectantes fables & subtilles inventions de diuers propoz, speciallement de philosophie. Paris: Galliot du Pré, 31st July 1518. Small 2º (256 x 178mm). Gothic type. Title with woodcut of a caparisoned mule on recto, repeated on r2v, royal arms on title verso, A2 with large initial P enclosing figure of a scribe, woodcut criblé initials, device of Galliot du Pré on verso of v3. (First few leaves soiled at margins, lighter marginal soiling occasionally elsewhere, h4 bound before h3, tiny marginal worming from t1 to end, t1-2 and v2-3 stained, without final blank v4.) 18th-century red French morocco for the duc de La Vallière, triple gilt fillets on sides, spine with raised bands, directly lettered in two panels, the remaining four with repeated fleuron and smaller tools, gilt turn-ins, gilt edges. Provenance : 16th-century(?) signature on title: S. Clergues(?) -- Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, duc de Vaujours, later duc de La Vallière (1708-1780; his sale, 1783, part II, lot 3843; price of 6 francs recorded on verso of front free endpaper). FIRST FRENCH EDITION, VERY RARE. THE MAGNIFICENT LA VALLIÈRE COPY. The book that from late antiquity became known all over Europe as the Golden Ass was written in Latin in the second century by Apuleius of Madauros as the eleven books of his Metamorphoses . It tells the story of a young man named Lucius who is transformed into an ass by applying a magic lotion and only returns to his human form after going through a series of adventures. Woven into the narrative are other famous tales, including the myth of Cupid and Psyche which has inspired painters, sculptors and writers ever since. The translation into French was undertaken by Guillaume Michel of Tours and is dedicated to the 'conseiller chambellan du roi Monseigneur le Prevost de Paris. Baron & seigneur Dalegre/Sainct Just/Meillan/Torzet/Sainct Dier & de Pussol'. The delicate title woodcut shows a donkey in full harness, led by a monkey with a flute in the foreground of a landscape. It was cut for this first French edition. In addition to the Fairfax Murray copy, there are only three other copies known in public libraries (Nantes, Caen and New York). Bechtel A-205; Brun pp. 112-113; Davies , Fairfax Murray French , 16, Brunet I, 364 (this copy); Renouard, Inventaire chronologique des é ditions parisiennes du XVI e siè cle , ed. by B. Moreau, 1518, no. 1744.
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