Lot no. 43
The DOCTRINAL OF GOOD SERVANTS.
Small booklet in-4, bright red jansenist morocco, 5-ribbed spine, interior roulettes and fillets, gilt edges (Chambolle-Duru).
Bechtel, 240/D-336 // Brunet, II-781 // USTC, 79167.
(4f.) / [ ]4 / 26 lines with line spaces, car. goth. / 86 x 132 mm.
This is the third edition of the series of rules that servants must follow in their dealings with their masters if they are to be good servants.
These rules, laid down in the form of 28 stanzas of four verses of eight syllables each, concern obedience, respect for masters, respect for God and honesty, as well as conduct at table and in other circumstances of life. Some stanzas concern respect for and obedience to religious rules.
The book ends with this stanza:
Servans celuy qui gardera
And will put in his heart
These rules all good it will have
This is how the Varlet maistre became
Brunet and Bechtel describe four editions, the first of which is incunabula, in Paris, around 1490-1495, and the other three after 1520.
The one we are presenting was published in Paris around 1510 according to Fairfax Murray and around 1530 according to Bechtel.
It is decorated on the title with a woodcut depicting a master and his servant against a landscape background and on the verso of the last leaf with another woodcut depicting Christ among the doctors of the law according to Fairfax Murray, a master and his servants according to the notice of the Lignerolles copy.
A very fine copy, finely bound by Chambolle-Duru.
Provenance: Fairfax Murray (label, no. 130).
See original version (French) Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact organization
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