BIRAGUE (Flamin de). Lot n° 23

Ɵ Les Premières œuvres poétiques. Paris, Thomas Périer, 1585. In-8, fawn morocco, gilt foliage border, same motifs at the corners, ornate spine, gilt fillets inside, plum moire lining and endpapers, gilt edges (Gruel). Third edition in part first, very rare, of the poetic works of Flamin de Birague, ordinary gentleman of the king, emulator of Ronsard and friend of Du Perron and Desportes. The first two editions have long been absent from the antiquarian book market (J. P. Barbier-Mueller). Dedicated to Henri III, it contains 315 pieces, divided between two books of Amours, Elegies, Bergeries, Meslanges and Épitaphes. These are preceded by some introductory pieces addressed to the author, signed Ronsard, Du Bartas, Scévole de Sainte-Marthe, or even by this mysterious poet named Flottar de Montaigu, sieur de Voulve (or Voulue? ). The list of people to whom our poet dedicated his verses is detailed in the Rothschild catalog; Ronsard and Baïf rub shoulders with the great ones of the court: Henri III, Catherine de Médicis, the duke of Guise, Marguerite de Valois, the duchess of Aumale, etc. The edition is adorned with 2 beautiful intaglio portraits, one depicting Henri III, the other the poet, the latter accompanied by two Latin couplets by Jean Dorat (cf. Brun, p. 134). Typographical mark with Bellerophon, engraved in intaglio on the title. From the Jacques Bellon library (2010, n°22). J. P. Barbier-Mueller, IV-1, n°44. - Picot, Rothschild, n°2939. - Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°87.