Marot Clément

1596 · réf. 156261 — Niort: Thomas Portau 1596. First Niort edition the first to include the poems of Marot's son. Eighteenth century full calf maroon morocco spine label spine decoratively stamped in gilt dentelles all edges stained red wide comb marbled end papers green ribbon marker. General moderate to heavy wear front joint cracked but still holding tide mark to bottom corner text block and pages trimmed close on upper edge but not obscuring any text several unobtrusive patches to pages still very good. Overall a square and serviceable copy. Black and white engraved frontis. Sixteenmo in 8s. 16 548; 1-148 4 149-248 32 tables. 4.5" x 3" EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN QUIRKS AND I HAVE MINE FOR MY MAROT Sometimes history leaves a physical mark and this collection of Clément Marot's poems is a prime example. Full of handwritten French script marginalia this copy offers insight into the eighteenth-century historiography of Marot as the former owner bound fourteen pages of handwritten notes in the rear detailing the various editions of Les Ouvres with a biographical excerpt from Jean-Pierre Niceron's History of Illustrious Men 1727 and left meticulous annotations throughout. Well-versed in Marot the owner also included exhortations from Marot's contemporaries binding Joachim Du Bellay's lesser-known epitaph and an excerpt from Rabelais' Gargantua and His Son Pantagruel before the title page proclaiming over Marot's verse "Everyone has their own quirks / And I have mine for my Marot." And the praise is deserved. Marot 1496-1544 the court poet for King Francis I was one of the great poets of the French Renaissance and shook up medieval poetic form by infusing it with Latin symbolism and structure primarily informed by the time he spent in Italy in exile for his Reformation ties. Les Ouvres was first published in the 1540s and well-known provincial printer Thomas Portau took up Marot's publication mantel in 1596. He included the poems Thomas Mallard had added to the collection in his important publication earlier that year as well as poems by Marot's son. Its publication in Niort serves as a prime example of provincial book printing during the French Renaissance as local booksellers began printing their own editions of popular works as cheaper alternatives to transporting Parisian editions spreading court life and establishing a source of pride through the region. Portau would go on to publish multiple editions of Marot's Psalms translations with the French courtier's works marking the high points of his career. This edition and the touches left on it from the eighteenth-century craft a renowned version of Marot in his historical context surrounded by the poems of his son notes on hundreds of years of editions of his poetry and fellow poets admiring his work. Davies 2.355 & 365 for 1548 and Mallard's 1596 editions; Mortier 366 for 1549 edition. Thomas Portau unknown