Collection: Histoire de France

Cronica breve de i fatti illustri de’ re di Francia, Bernardo Giuntiis the first edition, published in Venice in 1588, of an Italian chronicle devoted to the kings of France and dedicated to Henri III. The copy in our collection is missing five royal portraits (including those of Charles IX and Henri III), a defect that we systematically highlight rather than concealing it in a flattering description. Another profile: Le passe-temps de chevalerie, Alain Chartier, the first volume published in a collection of 950 copies, which restores a medieval text in a 20th-century presentation. The history of France, in our collection, is therefore not limited to royal biographies: it includes scholarly re-editions of ancient texts, provincial chronicles, and military memoirs transversal to other periods on the site. Our collation method remains identical regardless of the century concerned: comparing the edition mentioned, the announced number of volumes, and the condition of the plates or portraits with what the copy actually presents. First edition and limited printing appear in the majority of our descriptions for this collection. historybrings together all periods; Revolution and Empire and 19th-century historycover the most represented sub-periods.

The subject takes precedence over the language of printing: this 1588 chronicle, dedicated to Henri III, traces the kings of France for a Venetian readership of its time. It sheds light on the European reception of French history during the Renaissance, not just the Franco-French narrative.

Some old editions included a series of engravings or portraits which, over time, have sometimes detached or been lost. We systematically mention any observed omissions, portrait by portrait if necessary, rather than letting the buyer discover it after purchase.

20th-century scholarly collections re-publish medieval texts in numbered editions for bibliophiles, with presentation and critical notes. Le passe-temps de chevalerie falls into this category: a 15th-century text, limited edition of 950 copies in 1944.