(Chivalric novel) - Le premier [-vingt quatrième] livre d’Amadis de Gaule, mis e...

(Chivalric novel) - Le premier [-vingt quatrième] livre d’Amadis de Gaule, mis en françois par le seigneur des Essars, Nicoals de Herberay [and others]. Paris or Lyon, 1557-1615. [Paris, J. Longis, 1557 (1-3); Lyon, B. Rigaud, 1574-1577 (4, 7-12, 14-15; 7, 9, 11, 12 printed by J. d’Ogerolles; 10 printed by J. Joly & G. Jelayron); Paris, E. Groulleau, 1557 (5-6); Lyon, Fr. Didier, 1577-1578 (13, 16); Lyon, E. Michel, 1578 (17: printed by E. Brignol); Lyon, L. Cloquemin, 1579-1581 (18-21; 19-20 printed by E. Brignol); Lyon, J. Beraud, 1582 (19); Lyon, A. Tardif, 1582 (20: printed by G. Jullieron); Paris, Cl. Rigaud, 1615 (22); Paris, G. Robinot, 1615 (23-24)] 24 "books" in 26 vol., 16mo (1-21, 19bis, 20bis) or 8vo (22-24) (some vol. cut short, without touching the text). Mod. havana morocco, gilt-titled spine with 5 raised bands, a.e.g., gilt inside dentelles, marbled endpapers, cloth marker (very sl. tanned). Excellent well-preserved set. A textually complete set of one of the classic knight-errantry tales, as nearly always consisting of a mixture of editions at various places and by various publishers or printers. They were translated by a number of French writers, incl. N. de Herberay (1-8), Cl. Colet (9-10), G. Aubert (12), J. Gohory (13), G. Chappuys (15-21), J. Charlot (19) and others. Pt. 22-24 appear to be anonymous sequels. "The story narrates the star-crossed love of King Perión of Gaula (a fictional kingdom within Brittany) and Elisena of England, resulting in the secret birth of Amadís. Abandoned at birth on a raft in England, the child is raised by the knight Gandales in Scotland and investigates his origins through fantastic adventures. He is persecuted by the wizard Arcaláus, but protected by Urganda la Desconocida, an ambiguous priestess with magical powers. Knighted by his father King Perión, Amadís overcomes the challenges of the enchanted Ínsola Firme, including passing through the Arch of Faithful Lovers. Despite Amadís’ celebrated fidelity, his childhood sweetheart, Oriana, heiress to the throne of Great Britain, becomes jealous of a rival princess and sends a letter to chastise Amadís. The knight changes his name to Beltenebros and indulges in a long period of madness on the isolated Peña Pobre. He recovers his senses only when Oriana sends her maid to retrieve him. He then helps Oriana’s father, Lisuarte, repel invaders. A short time later he and Oriana consummate their love. Their son Esplandián is the result of this one illicit meeting. Oriana and Amadís defer their marriage for many years due to enmity between Amadís and Oriana’s father Lisuarte. Amadís absents himself from Britain for at least ten years, masquerading as "The Knight of the Green Sword". He travels as far as Constantinople and secures the favour of the child-princess Leonorina, who will become Esplandián’s wife."
"The books show a complete idealization and simplification of knight-errantry. Even servants are hardly heard of, but there are many princesses, ladies and kings. Knights and damsels in distress are found everywhere." (Wikipedia). In Germany and England, Amadís was known chiefly through its French translations, sometimes much revised. The French translations did not follow the Spanish book divisions exactly, and the entire cycle in the French version extends to 24 books (as here). This set is unique in having the only complete copy of Book 2 (Paris, Longis, 1557), and copies of the unrecorded d’Ogerolles editions of Books 7 and 8 (differing from FB 993 and 987). Engr. frontispieces for Books 22-24.
Ref. Pettegree FB 828 (1), FB 834 (2), FB 847 (3), FB 982 (4 = SvGültlingen, Rigaud 678 = Baudrier III:307), FB 819 (5), FB 840 (6), FB 988 (9 = SvGültlingen, Rigaud 771 = Baudrier III:323), FB 985 (10 = SvGültlingen, Rigaud 772 = Baudrier I:180 & III:323), FB 1002 (11 = SvGültlingen, Rigaud 815 = Baudrier III:329), FB 998 (12 = SvGültlingen, Rigaud 816 = Baudrier III:329), 1028 (13 = Adams A-864), FB 1011 (14 = SvGültlingen, Rigaud 855 = Baudrier III:336), FB 1016 (15 = Adams A-900, SvGültlingen, Rigaud 856 = Baudrier III:336), FB 1038 (16 = Adams A-901), FB 1032 (17 = Adams A-903, Baudrier X:286), FB 1039 (18 = Adams A-904, SvGültlingen, Cloquemin 68 = Baudrier IV:33), FB 1047 (19 Beraud), FB 1042 (19 Cloquemin = Adams A-905), FB 1043 (20 Cloquemin = Adams A-906, Baudrier IV:59), FB 1048 (20 Tardif), 1046 (21 = Baudrier IV:60). - SvGültlingen, Rigaud 769 = Baudrier III:322 (7: not in FB). - SvGültlingen, Rigaud 770 = Baudrier III:322 (8: not in FB). - USTC (22-24).
Prov. Chantepie family (?) (sm. gilt arms in left top corner of front covers, cf. Rietstap II, pl. LVIII). - [Georges Petit]. *** Collation: 1: [15, 1 bl.]-336 ff.; 2: [4]-206-[1, 1 bl.] ff.; 3: [4]-208 ff.; 4: 490-[6] pp.; 5: [8]-239-[1 bl.] ff.; 6: [8]-260 ff.; 7: 519-[1 bl., 16] pp.; 8: [15, 1 bl.]-366 ff. [FB987, d’Ogerolles, has pp., not ff. as here!]; 9: 902-[10] pp.; 10: [1, 1 bl., 34]-601-[1 bl., 13, 5 bl.] pp.; 11: 702-[15, 1 bl.] pp.; 12: 1165-[1 bl., 18] pp.; 13: [1, 1 bl., 14]-441-[7] pp.; 14: 314-[6] ff.; 15: 526-[15, 1 bl.] pp. (lacking final blank); 16: 845-[1 bl.] pp.; 17: [16]-440 ff.; 18: 999-[19, 3 bl.] pp.; 19 (Beraud): [15, 1 bl.]-447 (= 466)-[3 bl.] ff.; 19 (Cloquemin): [16]-445-[3 bl.] ff.; 20 (Cloquemin): [16]-384 ff.; 20 (Tardif): [12]-540 (= 539)-[1] ff.; 21: [16]-448 ff.; 22: [1, 1 bl., 24, 2 bl.]-857-[1 bl., 9, 1 bl.] pp.; 23: [1, 1 bl., 1, 1 bl., 4]-920-[12, 2 bl.] pp.; 24: [1, 1 bl., 1, 1 bl., 3, 1 bl.]-853-[17] pp.