(1550). PELETIER DU MANS (Jacques). DIALOGUE DE L'ORTOGRAFE E PRONONCIATION FRANÇOESE. Poitiers, Jan et Enguilbert de Marnef, 1550. In-12 of [16]-216 pages, light calf, boards decorated with gilt fleurons at the corners and in the centre of the boards, framed in cold, modern wooden case (contemporary binding). VERY RARE FIRST EDITION. Jacques Peletier du Mans (1517-1582), professor of mathematics, Latinist and translator, physician, poet and grammarian, sets out his programme for reforming French spelling. He did away with double consonants when pronunciation reveals only one, and he also distinguished between u and v, i and j, etc. These rational distinctions were not definitively established in France until a century later, and form part of the most important work on French spelling in the sixteenth century. Light rings in the corners of the first and last leaves, very well executed restorations to the spine and boards. Fine contemporary binding (USTC 23472) (Tchémerzine V, 147) (Barbier Mueller, Ma bibliothèque poétique, III, n°3).