LA MOTTE-MESSEMÉ (François Le Poulchre de). Lot n° 89

Ɵ The Seven Books of Honest Leisure. Each titled after one of the Planettes. [...] Plus, un meslange de divers Poëmes, d'Elegies, Stances & Sonnets. Paris, Marc Orry [De l'Imprimerie de Pierre Hury], 1587. In-12, red morocco, gilt and cold decoration à la Du Seuil, spine decorated, inner lace, gilt edges (Capé). First edition of the first poetic collection of this poet from the Landes region, a former soldier who gave up arms to devote himself to verse. François Le Poulchre de La Motte-Messemé, born in 1546 in Mont-de-Marsan, joined the army at the age of thirteen and fought in the king's troops, notably as captain of fifty men-at-arms. He took part in all the assaults and battles, in particular at Jarnac in 1569, facing Coligny, where he witnessed the death of the Prince of Condé, and at the siege of Poitiers the same year. In 1572, unfortunate events prompted him to put away his arms and take up his pen. The coat of arms of the author, engraved on wood, on which one sees the collar of the order of Saint-Michel that Charles IX awarded to him, appear on the back of the title. Les Honnestes loisirs consists of a long autobiography of the author, from his birth until 1572, year of the marriage of Marguerite of France (the queen Margot) with Henri of Navarre, future Henri IV. This poem forms a sort of chronicle of the first wars of religion. It is completed by love verses and a mixture of various poems dedicated to great characters of the Court and other poets of the sixteenth century. Some rare leaves a little yellowed. J. P. Barbier-Mueller, IV-3, n°5. - N. Ducimetière, Mignonne..., n°126. - Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°422.