Beschreibung:

WARWICK, Guy of – Lhystoire de Guy de Warvich Chevalier dangleterre . Paris: Jehan Bonfons, n.d. [c.1550].
WARWICK, Guy of – Lhystoire de Guy de Warvich Chevalier dangleterre . Paris: Jehan Bonfons, n.d. [c.1550]. 4º (192 x 131mm). Collation: A-E4 F8 G-I4 K8 L4 M8 N4 O8 P-Q4 R8 S4 T8 U6. Title printed in red and black. Woodcut title illustration printed in red and black, 25 woodcut illustrations, some repeated. (Quire K transposed.) Late 17th-century red morocco, covers with gilt triple fillet frame and centred with a shield lettered ‘Janvier 1696’, above which the arms of the Comte de Toulouse [cf. Olivier pl. 2609, 1], spine richly gilt in compartments one of these titled directly in gilt, edges marbled and gilt. Provenance : ‘Bibliothèque du Roi. Palais Royal’ (title stamp) – Louis-Alexandre-de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1681-1737, Amiral de France; binding) – Ganay (oval booklabel with crowned eagle in gilt). POSSIBLY UNIQUE COPY OF THIS EDITION, BOUND FOR A MEMBER OF THE LATE 17TH-CENTURY GROUP OF THE 'CURIEUX', A CIRCLE WHICH INCLUDED GREAT COLLECTORS AND BIBLIOPHILES SUCH AS JEROME DUVIVIER, ANTOINE LERICHE AND LA VIEUVILLE.THEY FAVOURED BINDINGS OF RESTRAINED DECORATION, AND THE FEW BOOKS BOUND FOR THEM BY THE WORKSHOP OF LUC-ANTOINE BOYER USUALLY BEAR THE DATE IN GILT ON THE SIDES. THE PRESENT COPY SUBSEQUENTLY BELONGED TO THE COMTE DE TOULOUSE. The romance of Guy of Warwick was originally composed for an aristocratic audience in the early 13th century, but his adventures gained a wider readership in the 16th century, when printed editions such as this made the text more widely available. Following tests of his skill and strength with dragons, monsters, giants, a great boar and the legendary Dun Cow, earning him the hand of his beloved, Guy comes to regret his violent past, and embarks on a pilgrimage (or in some version a crusade) to the Holy Land, and, on his return, secludes himself in a hermitage in repentance. The chronicles of Thomas Rudborne and John Hardyng treat Guy as an historical figure (cf. Richmond 1996, ch. 4,5). Thus, like King Arthur and Robin Hood, Guy became a figure of legend, and the text became increasingly popular through the 18th and 19th centuries. The 25 woodcuts in this copy differ considerably in iconography, style and format from those of the Paris 1525 edition, suggesting that the woodcuts were either commissioned for this edition, or, as seems more likely from their size extending beyond the column widths, were designed to be used interchangeably in several chivalric works. Brunet II, 1833 (this copy); Du Verdier pp. Y6r, p. 539; USTC 51683 (‘no known surviving copy’).