Les Œuvres
First edition of the first French translation of the Works of Tacitus sumptuously bound in 1585 by the bookbinder of King Henry III, Clovis Eve.
In-folio, decorated havana morocco attributed to the royal bookbinder Clovis Eve, triple gilt fillet around the covers, large central motif composed of laurel branches and two large gilt daisies, wide cornerpieces closed with laurel branches, smooth spine fully decorated with gilt foliage, gilt edges. Parisian binding circa 1585.
356 x 226 mm.
Tacitus, Cornelius (ca. 56–d. after 117 A.D.). The Works of C. Cornelius Tacitus, Roman knight. Namely the Annals…, the description of the customs and peoples of Germany, the life of Julius Agricola… All newly rendered into French with some necessary annotations… [by Claude Fauchet].
Paris: [Pierre le Voirrier] for Abel L'Angelier, 1582.
First edition of the earliest French translation by Claude Fauchet and Etienne de la Planche.
The first five books of the Annals, translated by Estienne de La Planche, were first published in 1548—the books XI to XXII, the Germania, and the life of Agricola, translated by Claude Fauchet, are present here in their first edition.
“When, in the silence of degradation, nothing is heard but the clanking of the slave’s chain or the voice of the informer; when all tremble before the tyrant, and it is as dangerous to incur his favor as to deserve his disgrace, the historian appears, charged with the vengeance of the people. In vain does Nero prosper. Tacitus is already born in the Empire.” (Chateaubriand, Article from the Mercure).
Clovis Eve, active from 1584 to 1634, was the bookbinder for Henry III, Henry IV, and Louis XIII. He had at his disposal the two sets of tools and armorial stamps engraved in 1579 and in 1583 by Philippe Damphrie, chief engraver for the king’s coinage. These are essential clues for identifying his work. He was one of those responsible for the popularity of the “semé” decor (for example, bindings for members of the Order of the Holy Spirit, with the arms of Henry IV and Louis XIII). He is the creator of the remarkable bindings with macabre emblems (skeletons, coffins, skulls) made for the Company of the Brothers of Death, founded by Henry III, which brought together a small number of penitents of strict observance. Too many “fanfare” bindings have been too generously attributed to Clovis Eve, which were actually produced by several workshops. Authentic pieces (fanfare bindings with the arms of Henry III), as well as about twenty others identified by their tools, allow us to see there the accomplished expression of the predominant models rather than the creation of an original style. The long career of Clovis Eve marks the transition between the great binders of the Renaissance and the masters of the classical period (Le Gascon, F. Badier).
The binding is very elegant, combining 'fanfare' with 'feuillage' decoration. It shares several tools, notably the two sizes of a natural lily, with a royal binding of 1585 illustrated on plate XVI of G.D. Hobson, Les Reliures à la Fanfare, 1935, as well as with other bindings belonging to Hobson's 'groupe royale', which are attributed to Nicolas or his son Clovis Eve, the 'relieurs de roi'. Cf. Hobson, op. cit. p.51.
Martin Breslauer catalogued the same volume in a similar binding in 1995. Ref. Martin Breslauer, Catalogue 110, no.62, $16,000 twenty-eight years ago.
