Sixty-two medallion ports. in ornamental frames. They show the influence of the engraved ports. ascribed to C. Corneille in Epitome Gestorvm LVIII Regvm Franciae (Lyon, B. Arnoullet, 1546); see Mortimer. Below each port. is a scene from the king's reign. Nos. 5-26 are signed VS, nos. 1, 4, and 59 signed IA. Amman's large etching on t.p. depicts the French royal arms

Letterpress captions appear above the ports., and the biographical texts begin below them, continuing on the facing recto. In VD16 the text is derived from George Bernard's Cronique sommairement traictee des faictz heroiques de tous les rois de France (Lyon : C. Baudin, 1570), though this has been questioned; see Mortimer

The work "chronikōn" on t.p. is in Greek characters

Mortimer, R. French 16th-cent.

VD 16

Brunet

Binding: red goatskin, tooled in gilt on boards, spine, edges and turn-ins. Signed on front turn-in at foot: Lortic (i.e. Marcelin Lortic, 1822-1892). Page edges gilt. Green silk place marker

On front pastedown are three bookplates belonging to Marigues de Champ Repus, Robert Hoe, and John L. Dudley, Jr. On front free endpaper verso is that of Ambroise Firmin-Didot. Tipped onto 2nd front free endpaper recto is slip from bookseller's catalog describing the present copy

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