Hélisenne de CRENNE (Marguerite Briet, known as). Les Angoysses Douloureuses qui procedent Damours: composes par Dame Helisenne. Première [seconde ; tierce] Partie. De Crenne. - Ample narration faicte par Quezinstra, en regrettant la mort de son compaignon Guenelic, Et de sa Dame Helisenne après leurs deplorables fins, ce qui se declarera avec decoration du stille poetique. S. l. n. d. 4 parts in one small volume in-8, caramel calf decorated in the Du Seuil style with double cold frames, gilt fleurons at the corners and gilt senestrochère at the centre of the boards, spine with 5 raised bands decorated with small gilt flowers (Period binding). Brun, 162 // Brunet, II-414. I. (64f.) / A-H8 // II. (72f.) / AA-II8 (the last blank) // III. (34f.) / AAA-DDD8, EEE2 // IV. (8f.) / a8 // 99 x 161 mm. Rare Lyon edition, probably published shortly after the original. Copy from the library of Marcus Fugger with his handwritten bookplate. Little is known about Hélisenne de Crenne, a woman of letters from the first half of the sixteenth century, so much so that until the nineteenth century it was thought that she was the pseudonym of a famous male author without identifying which one. We now know that Marguerite Briet, who was born around 1510 in Picardy and died around 1560, married Philippe Fournel, Seigneur Du Cresne, before separating from him in 1552. It was therefore under her married name Crenne that she published her novels and epistles, of which Les Angoysses douloureuses is the most important. First published in Paris in 1538, this sentimental novel, a precursor of the genre inherited from romances of chivalry and courtly love, is in four parts. It recounts the unhappy adventures of Hélisenne, in love with the young Guénélic, whose husband locks her up to keep her from this chaste and forbidden love. To free her from her prison, Guénélic sets off with his friend Quézinstra on a journey that leads to many warlike adventures. Having tracked down the beautiful woman, they free her and flee, but, pursued by the troops, find refuge in a forest where the two ill-fated lovers breathe their last. The novel closes with a narration by Quézinstra in the form of an epilogue. The novel enjoyed great popularity and was reprinted several times. Our edition is probably the second, the original having appeared in Paris in 1538 with Janot. It bears the mark of the Lyon printer Denis de Harsy on all three titles, depicting Daedalus and bearing the motto "Ne hault. Ne bas. Mediocrement", the fourth part of the work having no title page. It is illustrated with 4 lettrines and 62 charming woodcuts in the text (31, 17, 12 and 2 respectively), in fact 44 engravings, 11 of which are repeated. One of the woodcuts, repeated at the head of the first three parts, depicts Hélisenne de Crenne writing at her desk. The others depict scenes typical of courtly love (couples talking while playing music, women in a castle, etc.) and romances of chivalry (scenes of battles, ships, etc.). Some of these finely engraved illustrations were also used in the Histoire du chevalier doré published by the same printer at the same time. Our copy comes from the library of Marcus Fugger and bears his signature in Marcus Fuggerus ink on the flyleaf. The binding, made for this bibliophile, is perfectly characteristic of the so-called simple bindings found in his library, in calf decorated with a double cold frame, angular fleurons and a central senestrochere with a bird. Marcus Fugger (1529-1597), head of the Norndorf branch, came from one of the richest families in Germany, dating back to Jean Fugger, a master weaver in Graben in the mid-14th century. He devoted himself to the study of science and was involved in the search for the Philosopher's Stone. He was also a banker in Augsburg, translated a work by Nicephorus Calixtus and wrote a book on horse breeding. He built up a first-rate library. He loved beautiful bindings and Romanesque works, particularly in French, of which he owned a large number. It was most likely his grandson Marquart who disposed of the library to his brother-in-law Count Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein around 1650. The library subsequently remained in this family. Part of it is now held by the Munich State Library, another part by the University of Augsburg and a third part in Vienna. The remainder was sold at four auctions in Munich between 1933 and 1935. Works from the Fugger collection are highly sought-after. A fine copy, formerly restored. Provenance: Marcus Fugger (manuscript ex-libris, I, 3 May 1933, no. 29), old mark in ink B133. Annotation in pencil by Lucien Scheler.