AMADIS DE GAULE (Le Huitième livre d'), mis en françois par le Seigneur des Essars Nicolas de Herberay. Antwerp, Guillaume Silvius, 1573. Small in-4, brown calf, triple framed with cold filets, gilt fleurons in the corners and diamond medallion in the centre, spine decorated with small gilt fleurons, smooth edges (pastiche binding). The eighth book alone (of twelve) in a reprint of the first French edition, translated by Nicolas Herberay des Essarts and first published in Paris in 1540-1556 in folio format. This Antwerp edition, printed on two columns, is decorated with numerous woodcuts in the text. Amadis de Gaule was one of the most popular Spanish romances of chivalry of its time, and was particularly cherished by Don Quixote: critics have noted more than forty allusions to Amadis in Cervantes' masterpiece. A very good copy bound in imitation of the period. Without the final blank leaf. Light spotting, repair affecting the text on the last leaf. Belgica typographica, n°5048 - Brunet, I, 216.