M. de Vivon - La Science Heroique - 1644

The Heroic Science Marc de Vulson de La Colombière Paris, Sébastien & Gabriel Cramoisy, 1644 First edition Folio (35 × 24 cm at binding). Pages (12), 494, (18) [with 17 plates]; 38, (4) [with 8 plates]. Contemporary full leather binding (or slightly later) with raised bands on the spine; worn surfaces, abrasions and discolorations, but binding solid and functional. A fundamental work of heraldry and noble science of seventeenth-century France. Vulson de La Colombière (ca. 1594–1665), gentleman of the King’s Chamber and knight of the Order of Saint Michael, treats systematically: • the origin and nature of nobility; • the origin of arms, blazons, symbols, seals, crests, mantling, supporters, crowns, collars and other ornaments; • the rules of blazoning, partitions, honorable pieces, figures and their significations; • liveries, devices, war cries and funeral marks. The volume is enriched by numerous full-page and in-text plates and illustrations (copper engravings and woodcuts): coats of arms, genealogical trees, knights on horseback in full armor, allegorical scenes, heraldic portraits and, in the appendix, the Généalogie succinte de la Maison de Rosmadec with related genealogical plates and views (including the castle of Kergournadech). Importance and rarity It is the first edition (1644) of one of the most important and complete treatises on French heraldry of the seventeenth century, a reference for generations of genealogists and blazonists. The work enjoyed wide popularity and was reprinted several times, but copies of the first edition complete with all the plates are today rather rare on the market. Condition • The first 3 leaves after the title page (with the engraving) and the last 3 pages of the index are missing. • Title page restored; other leaves restored. • Foxing, stains and signs of use typical of the period. • A solid copy, complete with the numerous plates present and fully usable. A work of great interest for collectors of heraldry, genealogy and illustrated old books of seventeenth-century France.

Estimate:£670.07

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