L'orloge des princes by Aurele-Guevara - 1540

"Rare edition" (A. Firmin Didot).

This book knew a considerable success in the XVIth and XVIIth. In a century and a half, there were 91 editions in French, Italian, Spanish, German, English and Latin. The clock in question is the clock of life. The author wants to teach the princes, to teach them how to use each hour of the day to the best of their needs and how to govern the people. The work is divided into three books.

If Guevara has placed his words under the aegis of Marcus Aurelius, it is to make his reader understand that if a pagan was an excellent prince, all the more so a Christian should strive to be one. Guevara is a humanist of the Renaissance.

He strives to prove that monarchical government is the best of all. Government is a service, and if the people must obey the princes, the princes have the duty, even more than the common people, to obey God. The second book, which deals with the duties of the prince towards his wife and children, is, in fact, a true treatise on childcare. Guevara first proves the goodness of the state of marriage.

The marriage will only be durable if one is careful not to emancipate the wife: she must obey her husband blindly, whatever his defects. She should not leave the house often, or better, never. But Guevara is especially concerned with giving abundant advice on how to care for the woman during pregnancy, at the time of delivery and on how to treat newborns well. He forbids the use of a wet nurse: the mother should not lose interest in the child once it is born and, moreover, the husband might become too interested in the wet nurse. That is why, if one resigns to take one, it will be necessary to choose the help. The time of breastfeeding should last at least a year and a half: Guevara refers here to an indisputable authority, Aristotle. The third book deals with the prince in the republic: the king will be especially concerned with justice and peace. Guevara resolutely condemns the offensive and conquering war. The prince should not think about his personal quarrels, should not be stingy, and should not like the theater either. He will take great care in the choice of judges and will be the protector of the widow and the orphan.

His work seemed to summarize all the wisdom of the ancients and one admired the work of stripping to which the author had to give himself. As for the style, it is lively, often eloquent, sometimes tender, especially in the chapter on maternal love.

Description: Framed in the form of a portico on the three titles. Figures on the last preliminary f. v° (François Ier au conseil). Printing by Caveiller, with marks of G. du Pré at the end of each part.

A fine copy preserved in a rich and complex binding inspired by those made for the books of Jean Grolier or Thomas Wotton, the edges, gilt and chased, are very beautiful.

Precious volume from the famous libraries Yemeniz, 1867 n° 556 ; A. Barbet 1932, n° 91 ; Lucien Graux with ex-libris and Hans Furstenberg. The binding of the first half of the sixteenth century has undergone some usual alterations. It was described as follows in the Yemeniz catalog of the year 1867:

"In-folio, tan calf (Old and rich compartmentalized binding, Grolier style, perfectly preserved). Copy in all its margins. "

At the Yemeniz sale, in 1867 (one of the most beautiful libraries of the 19th century) quite a few books were sold for 2 F gold; the present volume was sold for 350 F gold.

This first edition is very rare and Bechtel cites this copy and mentions only two others: BNF Rés. R-527. Firmin-Didot (1879, n° 224, green mar. Niedrée. (19th century binding).

A very precious copy of this original French Renaissance edition listed in private hands.