Opera. Quae quidem extant, omnia, e` Graeco sermone in Latinum partim iam olim diuersis authoribus, partim nunc per Iacobum Micyllum, translata. Cum argumentis & annotationibus eiusdem passim adiectis. Lyon, Jean Frellon II, 1549.

WITH THE ARMS OF MERY DE VIC

Frellon's 'crab and butterfly' device on title, woodcut initials, double columns, ruled in red throughout.

Folio (348 x 230mm). [26]ff (last blank), 894 cols. Late 16th century gilt panelled brown calf over pasteboards, large arms block of Mery de Vic in centre of covers incorporating his monogram within ornamental border, surrounded by a fanfare ribbon of leafy sprays and small tools, palmette tools at corners of panel, flat panelled spine, g.e. (rebacked, neat repairs to corners and small areas of covers).  

Lyon, Jean Frellon II, 1549.

A fine edition of Lucian's Opera, printed by Frellon at Lyon, from the famed library of Méry de Vic (d. 1622), seigneur d'Ermenonville, president of the Parliament at Toulouse and keeper of the seals of France. He is described by Olivier as 'un grand bibliophile' and amassed a renowned collection of around 3000 printed books and manuscripts, including the final Paris library of Jean Grolier. He bequeathed them to his son Dominique (c. 1588-1662) who was appointed Archbishop of Corinthe in 1625 and Archbishop of Auch in 1629; his collection was sold in 1676.

A similar binding with the arms of Méry de Vic is found in the Marsh Library, Dublin, on an edition of Horace, Carmina... Paris, 1579. Mirjam Foot notes that "the combination of fanfare tooling with leafy sprays is found on Paris bindings dated between 1575 and 1580". In the present example de Vic's arms have been embellished at a slightly later date by two small tools of a sword and a bird(?).

The editor was the German humanist Jakob Moltzer (1503-58) who used the translations of Erasmus, Thomas More and Melanchthon among others for this collected edition.

Light browning, title mounted on stub, B4 and B5 repaired in margins with minor loss, one very short tear in one margin.

Baudrier V, p. 215. BMSTC (French) p. 290. Not in Adams. Binding ref: See Mirjam Foot, The Decorated Bindings in Marsh's Library, Dublin (2004). Olivier 471. Guigard, p.466.

Stock Code: 243668