(History of art). (Jean Cousin). Ludovic Lalanne. "The... Lot 31

(History of art). (Jean Cousin). Ludovic Lalanne. "The book of fortune, collection of 200 unpublished drawings of Jean Cousin published according to the original manuscript of the Library of the Institute. Librairie de l'Art, 1883, in folio bound in half percaline, titled spine. Hardback. 39 pp followed by 200 full-page black plates. One of 25 copies (n°3) on Hollande. Copy of the drawings from a 1568 manuscript by Jean Cousin. False title slightly foxed, 2 stamps of religious institution. Nice copy, solidly bound. The " Livre de Fortune " is obviously an imitation of the Alciat's Emblems. A certain Imbert d'Anlezy, lord of the Nivernais, who had fought a lot in his youth, took a great liking for letters in his old age. He put his mind to the torture to make a crowd of quatrains, distichs and mottos whose vicissitudes of fortune provided him the theme, the whole in Latin and very obscure. The book was dedicated to the duke of Alençon, and to make it worthy of such a high patronage it was necessary to entrust the execution of the drawings to a great artist; this is what the lord of Anlezy did, while being careful not to name his collaborator, because, as he himself declares, having paid for the drawings, he believed himself entitled to claim authorship. Fortunately, one of the immediate successors of the lord of Anlezy took care to write at the bottom of the title "From the hand of Jean Cousin" .... (E. Molinier in " Ecole des Chartes 1883 ".