Gomberville (Marin Le Roy, seigneur de (1600-1674).... Lot 28

Gomberville (Marin Le Roy, seigneur de (1600-1674). From the French Academy The Doctrine of Morals Or are represented in hundred tables the difference of the passions Which teach the way to reach the universal Wisdom. In the Palace, At A. Soubron's, the Queen's bookseller, at the entrance to the Prisoners' Gallery, at the Image of Our Lady. 1681 Small in 8° 16 x 10 cm In two parts. bl.], [title], [7ff.] preface and table, 412 pp, [3bl.], lettering, head and tailpieces, complete with 103 full-page plates (60 in the first part, 43 in the second part) after Otto Van Veen. Some emblems marked A. C. for Antoine Clouzier ; Bound in Bordeaux morocco, boards framed with a triple fillet and fleur-de-lys in the spandrels. Lace on the edges and inside gilt edges. Marbled coloured endpaper [period binding]. Work composed at the request of MAZARIN for the instruction of the young LOUIS XIV. A ceremonial book dedicated to Louis XIV, La Doctrine des moeurs tirée de la philosophie des Stoïques représentée en cent tableaux et expliquée en cent discours (1646) seems to be a special case in the production of Marin de Gomberville (1600-1674). The work is in fact an adaptation - the writer takes his cue from the Quinti Horatii Flacci emblemata by the Antwerp painter and engraver Otto Van Veen (1607) - and its publication is partly a matter of opportunity. Yet this commissioned book fits naturally into Gomberville's literary universe, even if its genesis attests to the existence of editorial calculations and courtier issues. The reading of the engravings and texts collected by Van Veen in fact testifies to a carefully considered reorientation project: intended for a king aged eight and addressed to young people, this illustrated collection of morals bears witness to a coherent pedagogical and psychological intention based in part on the charm and power of figurative representation. These conclusions invite us to reconsider the naive hypothesis of a beautiful illustrated book and to support the thesis of a school of images. Bookplate on engraved vignette by Chaussat