![No image available](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/i/en20/no-book-image.png)
![No image available](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/i/en20/no-book-image.png)
L’Histoire Veritable, ou Le Voyage des Princes Fortunez.
by Béroalde de Verville
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Béroalde de Verville. L'Histoire Veritable, ou Le Voyage des Princes Fortunez. Divisee en IIII. Entreprises.
Illustrated with engraved title, folding woodcut map of the Grand Continent de Moso, and the Plan of the Palace of Secrets. 8vo. 20th century ¼-leather-backed marbled boards; spine with 5 raised bands; morocco label with gilt lettering on spine. A Paris, Chez Pierre Chevalier (1610). First Edition.
According to Paul Lacroix, in his Recherches bibliographiques of 1880, it is thought that this book was suppressed by the authorities shortly after publication, resulting in many copies having their titles excised, making the present copy very rare.
Béroalde's great novel tells of the 'Fortunate Princes,' their voyage to the Great Continent of Moso and neighboring islands, and their adventures there. It is an alchemical novel in its characters, puns, anagrams, and themes. It is a steganographic novel in the sense that it delights in the revelation of hidden things. It is an imaginary voyage to an unknown island, anticipating Gulliver's Travels and many other works. It satirizes Lucian of Samosata in its claim to be a 'true history,' and it satirizes Trithemius in its explicit claim to be a steganographic novel. It is hermetic in its learning, polyglot in its interest, and the first great French oriental novel because of the destination of the fortunate princes. Above all this, it is a dystopian novel because the Great Continent of Moso is not an imaginary best-place, but much closer to the reverse.
Béroalde had close ties to the intellectual and creative milieus of the late 16th and early 17th century, and was under the protection of two conseillers du roi. His writings cover topics as varied as history, mathematics, optics, alchemy, medicine, painting, sculpture, love, silk, etc He wrote in both verse and prose, and in all manner of tones (satirical, moral, spiritual, philosophical, political). Béroalde represents a literature of transition from the Valois court (and the generation of "La Pléiade") to the Bourbon court of Henri IV and the baroque, and (like his contemporary Nicolas de Montreux) he attempted to compete with the translation of foreign masterpieces by the creation of original works in French.
Leather hinges light scuffed; internally clean, with clear print and ample margins. The engraved title shows 2 very small chips from the fore-edge, not affecting the image, some soiling to leaves; folding map shows a very small edge-tear, again not affecting the image; o/w a very nice copy of this rare Hermetic novel.
Complete in all respects.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- George Robert Minkoff, Inc.
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 7412
- Title
- L’Histoire Veritable, ou Le Voyage des Princes Fortunez.
- Author
- Béroalde de Verville
- Format/Binding
- 20th century ¼-leather-backed marbled boards
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Chez Pierre Chevalier
- Place of Publication
- Paris
- Date Published
- 1610
- Size
- 8vo.
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- (HERMETIC NOVEL)
- Bookseller catalogs
- June Catalog;
Terms of Sale
George Robert Minkoff, Inc.
George Robert Minkoff, Inc.,
26 Rowe Rd., Great Barrington, MA 01230.
Tel: 413-528-4575.
E-mail: grm@minkoffbooks.com.
Authorized representative: George Robert Minkoff.
About the Seller
George Robert Minkoff, Inc.
About George Robert Minkoff, Inc.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- O/W
- An abbreviation for otherwise