PLINY THE ELDER (Caius Plinius Secundus). Plinii Secondi *Hi - Lot 55

PLINY THE ELDER (Caius Plinius Secundus). Plinii Secondi *Historiae Naturalis* libri XXXVII. Leiden, Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevier, 1635. Three small 12mo volumes (122 x 68 mm), late 17th- or early 18th-century bindings in red morocco, lined with the same material, featuring the emblem of the Golden Fleece repeated fifteen times, at the four corners and in the center of the covers, in the center of the lining, and in three of the six panels on the spine; blind-stamped fillet on the covers; fine lace border on the lining; marbled and gilt edges; blue morocco slipcases signed by Wallis. “This edition of Pliny, the only one published by the Elzeviers, was revised by Jean de Laet. It is rightly considered one of their masterpieces. Well-preserved copies are hard to find” (Willems, *Les Elzevier*, 1880, no. 428). A lovely engraved frontispiece at the beginning of Volume I. A superb copy, in pristine condition, in morocco leather binding lined and decorated with the repeated Longepierre emblem. A mediocre playwright, Hilaire Bernard de Requeleyne (1659–1721), Baron de Longepierre, is best remembered as one of the most renowned bibliophiles of his time. His books, very elegantly bound by Boyet and later by Padeloup, bore—repeated on the covers and spine—the emblem of the Golden Fleece, which he had adopted for his library. Like other book lovers of his time, Longepierre particularly appreciated the Elzevier prints, which he had bound in especially fine bindings, most of them lined. These bindings, executed on one of the most beautiful works produced by Dutch publishers, are identical to that of *Sulpice Sévère* from the same year, held at the BNF (described and reproduced by Jean-Marc Chatelain in *La bibliothèque de l’honnête homme*, Paris, BNF, 2003) and reflect the same attention to refinement. An old bookplate has been crossed out at the top of the frontispiece. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1965.

Estimation:€5,000

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