Search Results: Titles starting with D from Comellas Rare Books

S.l.n.d. (c.1611). 8vo. 23 pages. Half vellum, flat spine, long red morocco label with vertical title (19th century binding). First Edition, extremely rare, of one of the two contemporary testimonies according to which Ravaillac had not acted alone and the assassination of Henry IV was the result of a conspiracy involving various personalities in the king's entourage. Jacqueline de Voyer d' Escoman was a chambermaid for the Marquise de Verneuil, who claimed that her mistress had agreed with the Duke of Epernon to commission the king's assassination. But the inaccuracies in her story, as well as her allegedly dubious morality, caused her version to be rejected and her conviction for defamation. "La d'Escoman fut donc emmurée: on lui bâtit, chez les Filles repenties, une cellule garnie d'un étroit grillage; effroyable châtiment qui la retranchait du monde des vivants" (Loiseleur). First page stained, but a good copy otherwise.

Bruxelles et se trouve à Paris, Chez les Frères Estienne, 1779. 12mo. VIII (the first leaf blank). 494 pages. Full calfskin, smooth spine adorned, head of spine worn (period binding). First Edition dedicated to 'Women' to whom the author addresses in these terms: "je veux briser vos chaînes, vous empêcher d'être éternellement asservies à l'orgueilleuse présomption des hommes...". This work was composed in cooperation with Charlotte-Catherine Cosson de la Cressonnière (1740-1813), a woman of letters and author of texts in which we find playfulness and simplicity (Larousse). Small signs of wear on the binding but good copy inside. INED, 8805. Cioranescu, I, 21206.

Lyon, Michaelis Duhan, 1653. 8vo. 12 leaves. 600 pages. (i.e. 584). 14 leaves. Contemporary full vellum, ornate smooth spine, handwritten title on spine with author's name in gilt lettering (probable recase). First Edition. This work on the dangers for priests and religious of associating with women is "one of the most virulent ever written on women" (Bibliographie Clérico-galante). It is based on the story, inserted at the head of the volume, of the relationship between the famous philosopher and mystic Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) and a visionary Venetian woman. In 1547, Postel travelled to Venice and met an enlightened woman whom he made famous under the name of "Mère Jeanne", and for whom he became spiritual director. He called her "the new Eve" and later claimed that, when she died, she had communicated her substance to him and granted him all the rights of the first-born of the generation. The Church and the Inquisition were concerned by his actions and pursued him, before leaving him for a… Read More