[Guillaume ALEXIS]. The foolishness of the world. Booklet in-8, lemon morocco with central gilt medallion, spine with 5 nerves decorated with repeated flowers, interior lace, gilt edges (Trautz-Bauzonnet). Baudrier, XI-34 // Bechtel, 19/A-135 // Brunet, II-1757 // De Backer, 203 // Tchemerzine-Scheler, I-64b. (19f. out of 20, the last blank missing here) / A8, B4, C8 / 24 long lines, gothic car / 84 x 130 mm. A very rare edition of one of Alexis's best-known poems. It is sometimes wrongly attributed to Pierre Gringore. Guillaume Alexis, a Benedictine monk from the second half of the 15th century, seems to have been the "good monk" of the abbey of Lyre, in the diocese of Évreux, and then prior of Bussy (Bucy-le-Roi). His poem is devoted to the deceptions (faintises) that are the appearances of things and beings (Bechtel). Alexis describes countless situations in which men and women are nothing more than reflections of their true selves: As much woman as man The moon seems to have a figure Destre woman tresque devote All the better to pursue lust Counterfeit the bigot Tchemerzine cites the first edition in 1486 or 1488 in Paris and then describes fourteen editions published in Paris, Lyon, Rouen and Angoulême, up to ours published around 1520. All these editions are very rare. Bechtel gives only one known copy of this edition, ours. We have been unable to question this assertion. A very fine copy bound by Trautz-Bauzonnet. The upper margin has been skilfully restored throughout. Provenance: Baron Léopold Double (ex-libris, 24-27 March 1863, no. 95), Ambroise Firmin-Didot (ex-libris) and Hector De Backer (I, 17-20 February 1926, no. 203).