Lortic Charron Pierre (1 results)
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Language: French
Published by Chez les Elseviers, Leyden, 1646
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA)
Contact seller3-star sellerFirst Elzevier Edition. 135 x 75 mm. (5 1/4 x 3"). 12 p.l. (including engraved title), 663, [9] pp. ELEGANT DARK BLUE MOROCCO BY LORTIC (stamp-signed on front doublure), BEAUTIFULLY GILT-TOOLED IN THE STYLE OF THE 17TH-CENTURY BINDER KNOWN AS "LE GASCON," covers with graceful lobed French fillet frame, intricately lacy gilt at c…orners, delicately tooled lozenge at center, raised bands, spine densely gilt in compartments with complex mandorla centerpieces, curling tendrils at corners, and myriad small tools, gilt lettering, RED MOROCCO DOUBLURES with very fine lace gilt frame, leather hinges, marbled endpapers and flyleaves, all edges gilt. Engraved title and engraved arms. Verso of front free endpaper with engraved bookplate of Emmanuel Martin (see below). Willems 601; Rahir 599; STCN 832762849; USTC 1027902. Half-inch crack to head of front joint, minor wear to head of spine, corners a little rubbed, isolated faint foxing, otherwise a fine and pretty copy, clean and fresh internally, and in a lustrous binding. With striking gilt elaboration inside and out, this is a beautifully bound and delightful Elzevier edition of Charron's celebrated work "On Wisdom," first printed in 1604. Inspired by the letters of Seneca and Stoic in spirit, the work gives a meticulous and reasoned argument for living an austere, virtuous, and purposeful life in harmony with nature. But Charron's rationalism, combined here with a lack of interest in revelation as a source of truth, made his work suspect to the theological authorities of his day, and he was accused of portraying religion as unnecessary for morality. His attempt to revise the work to satisfy his critics was interrupted by his death. A lawyer before he became a theologian and preacher, Charron (1541-1603) desired at age 45 to join a monastic community, but was rejected for being too old. Our volume was lavishly bound by Pierre Marcellin Lortic (1822-92), who apprenticed with the Gruel bindery before opening his own workshop in 1844. Over the next 40 years, he won numerous awards, became a preeminent Parisian binder, and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Beraldi says of Lortic: "For the decoration [of a binding], Lortic, with real passion, conceived the bound book as a jewel: he loved the rich, the sumptuous, the flamboyant." Beraldi put Lortic in the first rank of gilders, even though Pierre did not do the gilding with his own hand. Instead, he employed the best doreurs available, including Wampflugh, Maillard, and Domont, before his talented son (and eventual successor) Marcellin took over those responsibilities in the 1870s. Our binding was likely commissioned by the previous owner, the formidable French bibliophile Emmanuel Martin (1821-82), whose library was sold in 1877. Our volume is lot #64 in the auction catalogue, "Collection de M. Emm. Martin: Livres Rares et Précieux Anciens et Modernes," selling, according to a manuscript indication in the margin, for 161 francs, a very substantial sum representing modern buying power of about $3,000. The catalogue description says it is a "charming example" of the rarest Elzevier edition of this work, and gives special praise for the "perfectly executed" binding, rendered "with the most remarkable finesse" in the style of Le Gascon, an artisan active in Paris in the first half of the 17th century and revered as perhaps the outstanding gilder of his day. This is a very great compliment to Lortic, and it is not surprising that, as the auction catalogue states, the present example of his work was featured in the Museum of Ornamental Arts as part of the Art Treasures Exhibition held in Manchester in 1857.
