[Rarebooks] fa: L’ABBE DE CHOISY - HISTOIRE DE LA VIE DE DAVID c.1700-1720 - w/ 50+ ENGRAVINGS

[ArCh]

Auction ending Sunday, September 25. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

https://tinyurl.com/2ok9x2l2

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA


[Francois-Timoleon] de Choisy: Histoire de la vie de David. Troisieme Edition Enrichie de Figures. Paris: chez la Veuve Martin Durand, [ca. 1700-1720]. Small 4to (20 cm) in early/period mottled calf; [6] + 84 pp.; with a frontispiece (by A. Schoonebeek), folding map, title-page vignette, and 49 half-page engravings (complete).

Handsomely illustrated edition of this work first published, unillustrated, in 1692. L'Abbe de Choisy (1644-1724) was famous in his time as a dedicated cross-dresser who lived much of his life as a woman. When not engaged in his "extravagant toilette," he wrote numerous works of church history and a gossipy memoir, and traveled to Siam in the retinue of the French ambassador.

Binding with modest wear and rubbing, cracking to the top of the joints, but both boards are secure; contents with light toning, occasional light damp-stain to the bottom margins, a few small spots and stains, but generally very clean and crisp, firmly bound. A nice example of a very handsome production.