Provenza

1540 · ref. 3843 — Avignon and Lyon: Jehan de Channey and reissued in Lyon by Thibaud Payen 1540. Good. Small 4to. Collation: A-T6 lacking two leaves at end including colophon on T6v. Foliation: cv 7 of 9 ff. Woodcut title-border and initials throughout see below. Bound in modern Italian full vellum title in calligraphic manuscript on spine in red and black marbled endpapers edges at one time stained red. Title-page with two small worm tracks in lower blank margin diminishing through first two gatherings; verso of title with contemporary MS title and early ownership inscription abrasions suggest the removal of something that had been pasted down at one time; upper and outer margins closely cropped with frequent loss of headlines and shoulder notes; foxing and blemishes throughout; fol. K6 with large tear. A washed copy and strongly and inexplicably pungent. Preserved in a marbled slipcase tipped with citron morocco. With stated faults and priced accordingly. VERY EARLY FRENCH PROVENCAL LAWS AND STATUTES A RARE AND IMPORTANT EDITION BEAUTIFULLY PRINTED IN AN ELEGANT BATARDE TYPE WITH THE TEXT IN HIGH RENAISSANCE FRENCH AND A WOODCUT TITLE BORDER ATTRIBUTED TO GUILLAUME LEROY. This is a significant collection of royal ordinances and edicts promulgated by Francois I for Provence more specifically for the town of Forcalquier and adjacent lands. The original sheets were printed in 1536 in the Papal city of Avignon by Jehan de Channey with a privilege; the work was then reissued with a new title-page in 1540 either in Lyon by Thibaud Payen ut Bechtel or by Channey's son Bernard ut Betz. "Perhaps the priviledge might have been usurped or contested because the true first edition of the Ordonnances was printed in Lyon by Denys de Harsy in 1536 with a privilege of three years . Thus the edition of Channey could well be only a counterfeit favored by the political position of Avignon a dependence of the Papal States" M. Rouard in the 1860 Bulletin du bibliophile p. 1404 "Note sur les editions de la 'Meygra Entrepriza' d'Antoine Arena". Francois I ordered to be printed this collection of Provencal laws which sought to consolidate his authority as king of Provence which was subject to the incursions of Emperor Charles V and to bring regional justice closer to "common" i.e. Parisian forms. The collection shows that the king wished to appease Provencal legal custom by not modifying the existing Privileges or administrative frameworks; nonetheless the entire Provencal legal system was effectively brought under his control. Every aspect of the Provence law is addressed; of particular interest: -- The ordinance of Is-sur-Tille an edict intended to curb the abuses of Provencal magistrates by forbidding them among other things to use Latin during trials i.e. Villers-Cotterets ordinance. -- The edict of Joinville - 5 September 1535 which carries out a reform of justice and administration by strengthening the powers of parliament. -- Ordinance on the of the Navy -- January 17 1517 -- one of the first of its kind. -- Ordinance of Dijon 23 November 1535. -- Ordinance on wheat. -- Ordinance of King Rene of September 4 1438 against imperial and apostolic notaries -- Ordinance of King Rene prohibiting imperial and apostolic notaries if they were not invested with the royal investiture. -- Ordinances of Louis XII 1501 and 1502 an edict establishing the Parliament of Aix. -- Ordinance on the Gendarmerie - Bordeaux July 15 1530. -- Ordinance of Saint Germain -- July 24 1534. -- Edict establishing the 7 legions of "Gendarmerie" or footsoldiers an ordinance on tolls and repair of highways - Fontaine September 1535. -- Edict on "reforming the justice system" of Marsailles dated in manuscript "1535". -- Table of Ordonnances of Provence our copy lacks the final two leaves of the Table. Provence was not annexed to France until 1486 but even then was preserved as a separate administrated organization. Francois I strengthened royal authority through a series of reforms to control and optimize the management of the state and its territory. It was for these purposes that he had the Villers-Cotterets ordinance drawn up in 1539 certainly the best known and most enduring of his reign. He instituted French as the exclusive official language of the administration and initiated its civil status. The Montpellier Ordinance issued in 1537 gave rise to the legal deposit of printed publications from the Kingdom. The colophon on T6v which is not present in our copy reads: "Ces presentes ordonnances ont este imprimees en Avignon par Jehan de Channey l'an de grace 1536 au moys Daoust." Other copies of the 1540 reissue have additional works bound with it e.g. the Berkeley Law Library copy which collates A-T6 V4 2A-D4 E2. These added works are considered discrete bibliographical units. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES: Judging from the title-page transcription in HOLLIS our Jehan de Channey edition must have a different title-page than that of Harvard Law Library; their transcription begins: "Ordonnances du treschrestien roy de frãce Francoys premier" etc. The cataloguer informs us that the 1540 edition is "the same as the 1536 Avignon edition except for a new t.p. and leaves 69142750. The son of the original printer reissued this; cf. Panzier." Whereas our copy lacks two leaves and has faults as stated we note with interest that the Friedlaender copy of the Denis de Harsy 1536 edition bound with two other works sold in 2001 at Christie's for $11162; a similar Sammelband was offered and sold by Messrs Sokol for EUR 11315. Baudrier vol. IX p. 303. Bechtel O-220. Collection des ordonnances des rois de France: Catalogue des Actes de Francois Ier" Vol. 9 p. 374. Repertoire bibliographique des livres imprimes en France au seizieme siecle I Avignon pp. 244-246 no. 50. Fairfax Murray / Davies French 411. USTC 22905. CENSUS: Bibl. Mejanes Aix-en-Provence; Bibl. municipale Livree Ceccano Avignon; Bibl. municipales Grenoble; Bibl. municipale Lyon; Univ. de Paris Bibl. Cujas; Arsenal; BnF; Berkeley Law; Harvard Law; Iowa University; UPenn; GWU. Further literature cited by Odysee Bibliotheque patrimoniale Aix / Marsaille Universite: Isambert Decrussy and Armet Recueil general des anciennes lois francaises depuis l'an 420 jusqu'a la revolution de 1789 1827 tome 9 p. 422-432 et p. 437 and tome 12 p. 137-148; p. 346-349; p. 355-356; p. 390-400; p. 414-491. Roger Aubenas Etude sur le notariat provencal au Moyen-age et sous l'Ancien Regime Aix 1931. Sylvain Soleil "L'ordonnance de Villers-Cotterets cadre juridique de la politique linguistique des rois de France" in: Langues et Constitutions Economica PUAM 2004 p. 19-34. Jehan de Channey (and reissued in Lyon by Thibaud Payen) unknown books