DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30695#0275
Ahbeville; 14S6.]
ST. AUSTIN.
177
set of signatures extends to 9 six, in eights. On the reeto of the ensuing
leaf, A. i, a fresh set of signatures commences beneath a curious and
magnificent wood-cut, of like dimensions with that of the foregoing,
in which a flying fiend is whispering in the ears of Charles, as he ap-
proaches St. Austin, who is mitred, and seated in an highly ornamented
Gothic chair.
On the recto of sign. S vij, at bottom of the second column, ‘ Cy fine
ce present volume,’ &c. containing the first ten books, printed as men-
tioned at the end of the 2nd volume — ‘ Lan mil quatre cens cjuatre
vingz et six.’ *
The second volume begins on the recto of sign. a i, with the table of
the'xith book: concluding, in this copy, with an elegant illumination
of two angels, with out-spread wings, supporting a coat of arms. The
work begins on the recto of sign. a ii, beneath a large wood cut of build-
ing a city : fiends are flying in the air. It ends on the recto of G viiij
(second set of signatures—very irregularly intermixed) at bottom of the
second column:
€p fmc Ke ^ecotib fcoKume contcnat Ic£
xii. ticrrcmcr^ liurca fce mmmcigncur ^att
ati0iiatin tic lacite tic bicn, ^Jmprimc cn la
ijilic tialiBcuinc ^ar icljan tm greet pxtttt
gcrarb marcijan^ iiBraire^: €t icdlup a
cljcuc lc xii. iour bauril lan miL quatrc
ccn.ci quatrc toingt$ t auant
The whole work is beautifully printed in double columns, with a type
which may be rnore common to the reader in the productions of Verard,
Eustace, and Bonfons: exhibiting no small perfection in the early
annals of typography. The present is a fine copy, although cropt;
and is bound in French calf leather, with gilt leaves. A copy of this
edition was in the coUection of Gaignat,t of the Duke de la Valliere,
* La Serna Santander justly observes that thefirst volume has the day of the execution
of the work subjoined: ‘ le xxiiij jour de Nouembre de la meme annee.’ Dict. Bibl.
Choisi, vol. ii. p. 119.
-f- In this collection was, as I suspect, the original ms. presentation copy of the above
edition. It is thus temptingly described in the catalogue: ‘ Les X premiers livres de la
cite de Dieu de S. Augustin, translates du Latin en Francois a la requisition de Charles V.
roi de France, par Raoul de Pralles ou Praesle. MS. Survelin, tres bien conserve, et
A a
VOL. I.
ST. AUSTIN.
177
set of signatures extends to 9 six, in eights. On the reeto of the ensuing
leaf, A. i, a fresh set of signatures commences beneath a curious and
magnificent wood-cut, of like dimensions with that of the foregoing,
in which a flying fiend is whispering in the ears of Charles, as he ap-
proaches St. Austin, who is mitred, and seated in an highly ornamented
Gothic chair.
On the recto of sign. S vij, at bottom of the second column, ‘ Cy fine
ce present volume,’ &c. containing the first ten books, printed as men-
tioned at the end of the 2nd volume — ‘ Lan mil quatre cens cjuatre
vingz et six.’ *
The second volume begins on the recto of sign. a i, with the table of
the'xith book: concluding, in this copy, with an elegant illumination
of two angels, with out-spread wings, supporting a coat of arms. The
work begins on the recto of sign. a ii, beneath a large wood cut of build-
ing a city : fiends are flying in the air. It ends on the recto of G viiij
(second set of signatures—very irregularly intermixed) at bottom of the
second column:
€p fmc Ke ^ecotib fcoKume contcnat Ic£
xii. ticrrcmcr^ liurca fce mmmcigncur ^att
ati0iiatin tic lacite tic bicn, ^Jmprimc cn la
ijilic tialiBcuinc ^ar icljan tm greet pxtttt
gcrarb marcijan^ iiBraire^: €t icdlup a
cljcuc lc xii. iour bauril lan miL quatrc
ccn.ci quatrc toingt$ t auant
The whole work is beautifully printed in double columns, with a type
which may be rnore common to the reader in the productions of Verard,
Eustace, and Bonfons: exhibiting no small perfection in the early
annals of typography. The present is a fine copy, although cropt;
and is bound in French calf leather, with gilt leaves. A copy of this
edition was in the coUection of Gaignat,t of the Duke de la Valliere,
* La Serna Santander justly observes that thefirst volume has the day of the execution
of the work subjoined: ‘ le xxiiij jour de Nouembre de la meme annee.’ Dict. Bibl.
Choisi, vol. ii. p. 119.
-f- In this collection was, as I suspect, the original ms. presentation copy of the above
edition. It is thus temptingly described in the catalogue: ‘ Les X premiers livres de la
cite de Dieu de S. Augustin, translates du Latin en Francois a la requisition de Charles V.
roi de France, par Raoul de Pralles ou Praesle. MS. Survelin, tres bien conserve, et
A a
VOL. I.