Diverse Antiquarian Books from Michel Bouvier

Michael Bouvier has issued Catalogue 81, Livres en Divers Genres. This is a collection, as the title says, of diverse subjects. A catalogue of the Parisian bookseller, the books are mostly in French and Latin. The catalogue is written in French. These are antiquarian books, designed for the collector of very old books, not more recent ones. These are a few of the selections we found.

Armand Jean du Plessis, better known as Cardinal Richelieu, was both a Catholic prelate and a power behind the throne of Louis XIII in 17^th century France. He rose in power as a result of his support of the Church and by being the favorite of the Queen-Mother, who had served as regent in Louis' youth. In time, Louis split with his mother and she went into exile, but Richelieu, as would always be the case, was a survivor. In time, he managed to antagonize just about everyone, and not even the King particularly liked him, but he was effective and lived to die of natural causes in 1642. This is a book of his political thought, Testament Politique. This first edition was published in Amsterdam in 1688, 46 years after he died. Richelieu's views were no longer welcome in France, so Protestant Henry Desbordes had his book published in Holland. It was meant to counteract the religious absolutism of England at the time, and Richelieu had accepted Protestants in France, as always, for strategic reasons. For all his unpopularity, Richelieu managed to establish a powerful central government in France, missing before his time. Item 11. Priced at €300 (euros, or approximately $323 in U.S. dollars).

This book comes from the acerbic pen of Thomas Neogeorgus (born Kirchmeier). The title is Regnum Papisticum : Nunc postremo recognitum & Auctum : Opus lectu iucundum omnibus veritatem amantibus: in quo Papa cum suis membris, vita, fide, cultu, ritibus, atque caeremonijs, quantum fieri potuit... (Papistic Kingdom: Now at Last Revised & Augmented: A work of pleasant reading for all who love the truth: in which the Pope with his members, life, faith, worship, rites, and ceremonies, as far as possible...). This is a 1559 revised and expanded version of a book first published in 1553. This book was not “pleasant reading” to Catholics. It is described as satirical but that is a bit of an understatement. The Catholic Encyclopdia spoke of his hatred for the church. He was a follower of Luther, but their relationship broke down over some of Neogeorgus' commentaries. He speaks of friars as “venomous Papists, who have more care for their bellies, than for the truth.” There were some hard feelings during the Reformation! Item 2. €5,000 (US $5,388).

The world has changed a lot since the time of Pomponius Mela, as has our geographic understanding of it. Pomponius created this work during the first century, sometime before he died (obviously) which was in the year 45. Pomponius was the first Roman geographer and wrote the first geography book in Latin. Naturally, it wasn't printed back then, but several editions were printed once Gutenberg came along. Many editions followed as Pomponius was still considered a reliable source until the voyages of the Age of Discovery showed there was much more to the world than Mela imagined. Item 17 is a 1748 edition of his De Situ Orbis. Libre III. Cum Notis Integris (On the location of the world. Book III. With notes). This was a second edition of this version of Pomponius' work with comments. Pomponius sort of knew Europe and Northern Africa, particularly the area around the Mediterranean Sea. He was aware of Britain, as an island to the north, and Asia extending as far as India before turning to ocean. Pomponius was also a believer in the existence of a great southern continent to balance out the land north of the equator, but he believed people on each side of the hemispheric divide would never be able to communicate. Between them, the equatorial area was too hot to cross. €500 (US $539).

Next we have a description of London from a French visitor who was less than impressed. The title is Londres, by Pierre Jean Grosley, published in 1770. Previously having written a travel book about Italy, this time Grosley describes much of what he saw in England. He describes the lives (and debauchery) of people in London. He also touches upon commerce, government institutions, horse races, religious minorities, tolerance, women, culture and more. He was a participant in the Age of Enlightenment, being one of the writers who contributed to Diderot's Encyclopédie. In this book, he recounts the tale of a nobleman who played poker for 24 hours straight, not even leaving for meals. He did have a piece of meat between two pieces of bread delivered to him. Voila, the sandwich. That was, of course, the Earl of Sandwich. Item 31. €450 (US $485).

Here we have one of those libertine novels that has a happy and moral ending. It provided a justification for reading books that would otherwise be deemed inappropriate. The title is Les confessions d'une courtisane devenue philosophe (The confessions of a courtesan who became a philosopher). Happens all the time. Whether this is a step up or down is a matter of opinion. The lady in question came from a good family but is brought to her unfortunate condition by love. Fortunately, she reads the books of philosophers, which leads her back to the moral and contemplative life, as she retires to the countryside to live off her previous earnings. Item 43. €500 (US $539).

Michel Bouvier may be reached at +33 (0)1 46 34 64 53 or mbouvier@noos.fr. The website is www.librairiemichelbouvier.com.

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