Chroniques de France

4 volumes in-folio of: I/ (12) ff., 267 ff., (1) f.; II/ (8) ff., 156 ff., 116 ff.; III/ (8) ff., 210 ff.; IV/ (16) ff., 290 ff. (misnumbered 288 ff.), 80 ff.

Burgundy morocco, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, smooth spine decorated in the fanfare style, double gilt fillet on the edges, inner gilt dentelle, gilt edges over marbling, minor marginal restoration to the corner of one leaf. Binding signed Marius Michel. 259 x 188 mm.

Chronicles of France. The first [second, third, fourth] volume of the sea of histories and chronicles of France.

Paris, Galliot du Pré, Michel Lenoir, and Jehan Petit, 1517-1518. Complete.

First complete edition, partially original, of the "Chronicles of France" also known as the "Saint-Denys Chronicles," first printed in Paris in 1476, "the first known French book printed in Paris with a date," as noted by Brunet (I-1868).

Besides their iconographic interest, The Chronicles of France are of fundamental importance for the literary and linguistic history of France and contribute to the founding work of the French nation; they are therefore highly sought after by national and international public institutions.

Under the title Grandes Chroniques de France, a vast literary and historical work is designated, created in several stages between the 13th and 15th centuries, mainly at the Saint-Denis Abbey. The complete collection traces the history of the kings of France from their mythical Trojan origins up to 1461.

At the beginning is the Roman des rois, which Primat, a monk of Saint-Denis, offered to Philip III the Bold in 1274, testifying to the intense historiographic activity that existed at the monastery since the early 12th century; two manuscripts preserve it, one from the beginning of the century, the other from the middle. It is the latter manuscript, now Paris, BN, Latin 5925, which mainly served Primat, as has been known since the research of J. Viard. It contains what is commonly called the compilation of Aimoin, meaning the own work of Aimoin de Fleury or Historia Francorum, followed by a continuation incorporating entire or fragmentary chronicles added at different times; the corpus used by Primat includes works such as the Gesta Dagoberti, the Royal Annals, the Chronicle known as Pseudo-Turpin, the Annales Bertiniani, the Life of Louis VI by Suger, some of which are characteristic of a Dionysian contribution. Primat carried his work up to the end of the reign of Philip Augustus. His undertaking had been preceded, about fifty years earlier, around 1220-1230, by a Chronicle of the Kings based on the translation of a nearly identical corpus of texts, by a monk who remained anonymous and unknown—was he from Saint-Denis or Saint-Germain-des-Prés?—an attempt attested by only two manuscripts. This attempt, however, is the sign of the enthusiasm that the lay public showed at the dawn of the 13th century for historical prose narratives in the vernacular. Primat was aware of and used the anonymous translation, sometimes adopting its wording verbatim, but he often improved upon it by removing repetitions and flashbacks, turning to new sources, and adding supplementary information. Following this pioneer whose plan he borrowed, adding his own design, or at least that of his patron, King Saint Louis—to establish a genealogy legitimizing the ruling power—he produced original work, creating a history both national and royal, in which not only the king and barons are discussed, but also the French people. He imposed his own mark, emphasizing the role of Saint-Denis and reaffirming the moral authority of history.

Under Charles V, there was a change in the writing of the Grandes Chroniques. The king, in fact, did not call on the monks of Saint-Denis to record the reigns of his father, Jean the Good, and himself; he turned to his chancellor Pierre d’Orgemont, who wrote—or had written—a kind of official journal, a lengthy plea that dryly records the facts, publishing the documents straightforwardly. Charles V ordered the last Dionysian version, which went up to 1350, to be recopied and luxuriously illustrated, and had it supplemented with the chancellor’s text continuing up to 1379. He gave the work his personal stamp: in these troubled times, the aim was to show France’s greatness in comparison to England and the Empire and to assert the legitimacy of the Valois. For this, the text was revised and the illustrations were reworked and supplemented. This version of the GrandesChroniques, with an addition for the years 1379 and 1380, enjoyed immediate and considerable success.

The final stage presents the text of the Grandes Chroniques in their 1380 edition, to which is added the text attributed to Jean Juvénal des Ursins for the years 1380-1402, that of Gilles le Bouvier, known as the Herald of Berry, for 1402-1422, and finally the history of the reign of Charles VII by Jean Chartier, religious and cantor of Saint-Denis, which was the last production of the Dionysian historiographical school. Louis XI, in fact, stripped the Saint-Denis Abbey of its royal role by transferring the office to Jean Castel, a monk from Cluny and abbot of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés. It was one of these manuscripts extended to 1461 that Pasquier Bonhomme reproduced in his 1476 edition, which is the first printed edition of the Grandes Chroniques.

“In this edition, the Chronicles of St-Denis are preceded by an introduction that begins with the creation of the world; thus, the first volume goes only up to the reign of Pepin, as can be seen in the subscription stated thus: Here ends the first volume of the sea of histories and chronicles of France, partly excerpted from all the ancient chroniclers who wrote from the creation of the world, about the deeds and exploits of the French, and whence they descend, up to the time of Pepin. And it was finished printing on the last day of October, fifteen seventeen, for Galliot du Pré… The first volume has 12 preliminary leaves for the title, prologue, and table of chapters, CClxvij numbered leaves; and one leaf bearing the mark of Galliot du Pré. The second volume contains 8 preliminary leaves and C xvi numbered leaves; the recto of the last leaf bears the mark of Michel Le Noir, bookseller, who is named as the printer of this volume, in the subscription dated the year 1517, the 29th of October. The third volume contains 8 preliminary leaves and ccx numbered leaves; the verso of the last has the mark of Jean Petit. In the 4th volume, dated Wednesday, the tenth day of March, the year 1518, and which stops at the year 1516, there are 16 preliminary leaves, cc lxxxviij leaves of text; plus the reigns of Charles VIII and Louis XII, of the kings of England, popes, and emperors, the history of schisms, councils, and beginning of the reign of Francis I, ff. 1 to lxxx.” (Brunet).

This precious, partially original edition is the first complete one.

It is therefore highly coveted.

“First edition of the Chronicles of France, augmented with a history of the reigns of Charles VIII and Louis XII, of the kings of England, popes and emperors, schisms and councils. It extends to the early years of the reign of Francis I, thus representing the most extensive history of the West ever published at the time” (Bechtel).

Beautiful printing in gothic type in two columns, decorated with a large grotesque initial on each title. Numerous historiated initials on a stippled background. On the verso of this title or at the beginning is a full-page woodcut depicting the baptism of Clovis and the battle of Tolbiac. This woodcut is repeated in volume I, at the beginning of volume IV. A very similar copy of this woodcut is in volume III (see Harvard). The second volume has 21 woodcuts and the third 10 woodcuts, each the width of a column, originating from Michel Le Noir's stock. At the end of the first three volumes are found respectively the marks of Galliot du Pré, Michel le Noir, and Jehan Petit.

Superb copy attractively bound by Marius Michel in the style of the French Renaissance bindings.
“The Grandes Chroniques enjoyed enormous success in the Middle Ages. An essentially literary, historical, and mythical narrative, a matrix for a monarchical, Christian, French, and thereby already national history, they set dynastic memory in the vernacular language and thus constitute one of the most important French-language books of our cultural heritage.”