LA VALLETTRYE (sieur de). Lot n° 71

Les Œuvres poetiques. Paris, Estienne Vallet, 1602. In-12, fawn calf, cold fillet, ornate spine, red title page, red edges (18th century binding). First edition. Dedicated to Monseigneur de Rosny (i.e. the Duc de Sully), Superintendant des Finances & Grand-Maistre de l'Artillerie de France, this work contains numerous pieces, especially on the theme of love: sonnets, stanzas, mottoes, ballets, epitaphs, Christian poetry, eglogues, as well as a pastorelle entitled La Chasteté repentie. Among these pieces are Faux honneur des dames, l'Amour mercenaire et fripponnier, De la naissance du sein de Madame Gabrielle duchesse de Beaufort, De la chasse du merle, Pour un présent fait à une Damoiselle d'un boudin de pourceau, and À deux laides. He also wrote verses on the poetry of Scévole de Sainte-Marthe. Little is known of the poet Sieur de La Vallettrye (or La Vallettrie), cited by Lachèvre in his bibliography of Recueils collectifs de poésies libres et satiriques (pp. 259-261). La Vallettrie's poems are sought-after for their linguistic and figurative turns of phrase. It is true that some of them are not lacking in piquancy, like this sonnet entitled À une dame, Comparaison d'Elle à une Montre: [...] ie vous promets bien que vous serez montée, / Le soir & le matin, & quelquesfois le iour (ff. 40-41). On the title, a handsome copper-engraved vignette with a motto taken from Virgil. The copy belonged to Joseph-Antoine de Crozat, Marquis de Tugny (1696-1751), conseiller au Parlement, with his handwritten bookplate on the verso of the title (Ex-bibliotheca D. Crozat) (cat. 1751, no. 1266). Trace of ex-libris on upper flyleaf. Handwritten note at bottom of flyleaf: cat. de Nyon, 17273, double for sale. Some current titles have been cut by the bookbinder's knife. Crack at top of one spine. Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°455.