MAROT (Clément). Premier Livre des Métamorphoses... Lot 89

[MAROT (Clément)]. Premier Livre des Métamorphoses d'Ovide, translation into French verse by Clément Marot (Manuscrit Parguez). In French and Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, probably Paris (?) circa 1530-1531 ? With 5 large illuminations attributable to a Parisian artist 49 ff, preceded and followed by three modern parchment endpapers, lacunar manuscript (the title, preface and verses 1-15, 141-172, 817-836, 1123-1142, 1337-1370, 1469-1552) [impracticable collation, but a priori the manuscript was originally composed of quires of 10], bastard script in brown ink, Latin pageantry in the margins in Roman script (extracts from the Latin text of the Metamorphoses), a few lines copied in gold lettering (ff. 1v-2), ruled in pale red ink (justification: 154 x 97 mm), 16 long lines per page, headings in red or blue, some initials highlighted in yellow, paragraph signs in liquid gold on dark blue or red backgrounds, small initials in ornate liquid gold on blue or red backgrounds, 5 large miniatures punctuating the main divisions of the text inscribed in gilded frames (from a cycle that was originally intended to include 12), several pen-and-ink essays in the margins, a few drawings in the margins (busts,,, profile portraits, e.g. ff. 37, 41, 41v, 42). Soiling and spotting to parchment in places, one tear to leaf with missing text (fol. 14), missing parts noted above.Bound in full brown morocco, bevelled wood edges, 4 ribbed spine, gilt lettering "Clément Marot. Les Métamorphoses, Manuscrit", single gilt fillet framing the inside covers, gilt edges. Modern binding by René Aussourd. Combined slipcase with study bound in a volume of brown half-maroquin with corners, boards covered with turned marbled paper, smooth spine with gilt lettering in Gothic script: "Clément Marot - Les Métamorphoses - Etude". Enclosed: typescripts by F. Gaudu; typescript letter signed by P. Villey, dated Caen March 11, 1931, about the manuscript and the work of his pupil F. Gaudu; various bibliographical notes in manuscript. Binding dimensions: 188 x 248 mm; leaf dimensions: 172 x 242 mm. This manuscript contains an illuminated dedication copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses in the French translation by Clément Marot. Illuminated secular manuscripts of poetry are extremely rare. Known as the "Parguez Manuscript", this manuscript appears to be the one dedicated in 1530/1531 to Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544), and produced a few years after the manuscript dedicated to King François I (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 117). Full details in the downloadable catalog.