Fanfare binding with pointillé tooling
[BINDING.] [PRAYERS.] [Le tableau de la croix representé dans les ceremonies de la S.te messe]. [Paris: François Mazot. c. 1651-1653].
Small 4to. Contemporary French dark red morocco, richly gilt, covers elaborately tooled with pointillé tools in an open fanfare design, within pointillé, double fillet and floral roll tool borders, spine gilt in compartments with raised bands, gilt edges, pink silk ties and place marker, marbled endpapers; ff. [2], 34, pp. 35-39, [1 (blank)], engraved throughout (77 full-page engravings) by Colin and De Gheyn, without title and privilege leaf; two very small holes near hinge of rear board, hinges and extremities very expertly repaired; tiny hole to f. 33 (repaired); “N 686” in ink to recto of f. [1]; a cutting from a catalogue (attributing the binding to “Le Gascon”) to verso of front free endpaper; bookplates of Paul Grandsire to verso of front free endpaper and verso of rear free endpaper (see below).
One of the most splendid books of devotion of the French seventeenth century, entirely engraved, and in a superb fanfare binding with pointillé tooling, attributed to the legendary binder “Le Gascon”.
The volume opens with a dedication letter from the printer François Mazot to Charles de l’Aubespine (1580-1653), Marquis de Châteauneuf, ambassador, and later Keeper of the Seals of France, faced by a portrait of the dedicatee by the Dutch engraver Willem de Gheyn (fl. 1650–1670). An engraved title page by Jean Colin (c. 1623–1701) follows, introducing thirty-five illustrations depicting various parts of the Mass. Each illustration is accompanied, on a facing page, by prayers in French and Latin, embellished with full-length portraits of saints, plants, flowers, and insects. The work concludes with four pages of litanies featuring female saints.
Published between 1651 and 1653, Le tableau de la croix exists in several variants, with some editions including further litanies and portraits of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, as well as a selection of Psalms.
The binding is an exquisite example of French pointillé tooling, a style characterized by intricate dotted lines and curves that gained popularity in France in the 1630s. This technique was employed by several master gilders, the most famous of whom was “Le Gascon”, a mysterious figure whose identity remains uncertain. This binding has previously been attributed to his workshop in the past.
Provenance: From the library Paul Grandsire of Nogent, Haute-Marne. His extensive collection was sold at auction in 1930 (See Vente 9-13 Décembre 1930: Livres rares et précieux, anciens et modernes composant la Bibliothèque de M. Paul Grandsire de Nogent-en-Bassigny).
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