Histoire des amants volages

Octavo, (6) leaves, 642 pp., (1) leaf. Overlapping vellum, calligraphic title on spine, marbled edges. Contemporary binding.

173 x 105 mm.

Rosset, François de. Stories of the Fickle Lovers of This Time. Or under borrowed names are contained the loves of several Princes, Lords, Gentlemen, and other notable people, who deceived their mistresses, or who were themselves deceived by them. Dedicated to the King. Paris, at the widow Jacques du Clou, and Denis Moreau, 1619.

Very rare second edition of The Story of the Fickle Lovers by François Rosset (1579-after 1630), the writer who "united the Astrée and the Amadis".

La Chèvre, Les Recueils collectifs de poésies libres et satiriques, XIII p.342; Catalogue James de Rothschild, II, no.1723; J. Gay, p.355.

This novel, Rosset's rarest, remained unknown to Brunet, who cites and describes the other works of this talented author.

“The preliminary leaves include the title, which is finely engraved and surrounded by charming subjects, an epistle "To the King" and the Table of Contents.

The privilege, dated July 31, 1616, is granted for ten years to "Françoise Getard, widow of the late Jacques Duclou, while living, founder, printer, and bookseller in Paris, and Anthoine Vitré, also bookseller in Paris". By a deed dated July 4, 1618, Vitré declared he transferred his rights "to the widow Duclou and others the said widow may please to designate".

Pierre Boaistuau created the fashion for unusual stories, first by his translation of Bandello (1559), then through his Prodigious Stories; his follower, François de Belleforest, exploited this vein. The works of Jean de Marconville, Jean Chassanion, Simon Goulard and P. Boitel showed that the public's taste for these stories was lasting. The Fickle Stories of François de Rosset number twelve; their manner is visibly imitated from the Astrée; but, judging by the title, they have an underlying truth. It does not appear that any critic has ever attempted to penetrate the mystery surrounding these accounts” (Catalogue James de Rothschild).

A noble from Provence born around 1579, François Rosset, a Protestant poet and novelist, converted to Catholicism.

After a trip to Italy and two editions of his poetry, we find him in Paris.

Proficient in Latin and Spanish, he produced versions of Don Quixote and the Novellas of Cervantes, as well as Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso.

But it is above all the Story of the Fickle Lovers and his Tragic Stories that made him a successful author.

A best-seller of the old regime, the work continued to be reissued with new additions, reaching over 40 editions by 1757. Drawing on real, recent, and bloody news stories, Rosset revived a genre popular in Renaissance Italy to create a dark romanticism that would become one of the forerunners of the fantastic literature of the 19th century.

Provenance: From the libraries of James Scot with the date 1625 and several handwritten ex-libris, and Boillaud with the date 1673 and handwritten ex-libris.

Only 3 copies recorded by international public institutions: Library of Nîmes, Bnf, and Ohio State University (incomplete copy).