[Alain CHARTIER]. La belle Dame sans mercy. Small booklet, 8 pages, beautifully decorated red morocco with triple fillet, spandrels with small irons and rose in a medallion decorated in the same way, spine with 5 finely decorated nerves, inner lace, gilt edges (Bauzonnet-Trautz). Bechtel, 135/C-263 // Brunet, I-1814 // Fairfax Murray, II-633 // Renouard, ICEP, III-462-1697 // Tchemerzine-Scheler, II-314 // USTC, 73209. (16f.) / a-b8 / 28 lines, gothic car / 79 x 121 mm. Fourth edition cited by Brunet and Tchemerzine and sixth edition cited by Bechtel. A political writer, moralist and poet, whom we introduced in the previous issue, Alain Chartier, a noble and great soul, found in poetic art a distraction, an amusement in which he tried to renew the theme of gallantry. La Belle dame sans mercy tells the story of a lover who dies because the woman he loves refuses to marry him. The 800-verse poem, grouped into stanzas of eight octosyllables in three rhymes, caused a scandal and was the subject of debate for almost a century (Bechtel). The work caused controversy, with some readers protesting against the representation of women in such a way contrary to the ideal of courtly love. Alain Chartier was criticised, insinuating that he had written his work out of spite at having been rejected and to distract others from the joy he had failed to deserve. This quarrel was answered by another of Chartier's poems entitled La Belle dame qui eut mercy. Tchemerzine describes four editions and Bechtel gives six, without either of them being able to give a date to any of them. They were published between 1489 and 1529 and differ only in the number of pages or the engraving on the title. This edition appears to be known only by the copy we are presenting from the Fairfax Murray collection. He thought it was published by Lotrian around 1530. ICEP and Bechtel refer only to this copy and give the edition published by Hubert around 1529. The USTC lists only one "lost" copy. It seems clear that this copy is ours. The wood on the title shows a man and a woman talking, with the frame of the wood cut into the right-hand side. A delightful copy, very finely bound by Bauzonnet-Trautz. Very slight wear to lower cut (1 cm). Pale stains on last leaf. Provenance: Fairfax Murray (label, no. 633).