(VELLUM PRINTING). (BINDINGS - THIBARON). GRESSET, JEAN-BAPTISTE-LOUIS.

POËMES.

(Paris: D. Jouaust, 1867). 216 x 140 mm (8 1/2 x 5 1/2"). 6 p.l. (two vellum blanks, half title, title, two frontispieces [on paper]), iv, 132 pp., [4] leaves (variants, contents/colophon, two vellum blanks). Fol. Cii unsigned and misnumbered, but copy complete. ONE OF TWO COPIES PRINTED ON VELLUM. (There were also 118 copies on paper.)

VERY ATTRACTIVE CONTEMPORARY MIDNIGHT BLUE CRUSHED MOROCCO, HANDSOMELY GILT, BY THIBARON (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with French fillet border, raised bands, spines ornately gilt in compartments filled with delicately stippled swirling designs accented with small tools, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With nine engravings (on paper): two frontispiece portraits of the author and seven plates "before letters" engraved by E. de Ghendt and J. B. Simonet after J. M. Moreau le Jeune. A Large Paper Copy. Front pastedown with morocco bookplates of Robert Hoe and Mortimer Schiff (see below for both) and engraved bookplate of Marcellus Schlimovich; half title and colophon with library stamp of Sociedad Hebraica Argentina. Just a hint of wear at top and bottom of joints, one side of first and last vellum flyleaf discolored (apparently from a reaction to the gilt on the pastedowns(?), the plates with variable freckled foxing (never serious), otherwise A FINE COPY, the elegant binding quite lustrous and the leaves clean, fresh, and bright.

This is a beautifully printed and handsomely bound excessively rare copy of the luxury version of the best-known works of Jesuit poet Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset (1709-77), issued by a publisher specializing in editions intended for bibliophiles and formerly owned by two great connoisseurs. The most important work here is "Ver-Vert," the mock heroic poem, published in 1734, that made Gresset famous and, ultimately, miserable. The charming decasyllabic verse tells the story of a talented parrot, the pet of a convent who has learned to repeat prayers and other pious phrases. Its owners take the pet to another convent to show off the bird's prowess, but during the journey, the parrot picks up startling new vocabulary and arrives cursing and swearing, much to the consternation of the nuns who brought it. The bird undergoes a harsh punishment and then is killed by overkindness to make up for its suffering. The great success of this work encouraged Gresset to write additional poems, among them the other works included here: "Le Carême In-Promptu," "Le Lutrin Vivant," "Le Parrain Magnifique," and the touching "Lettre d'un Homme Retiré du Monde, à Un de ses Amis." Unfortunately, the occasionally risqué nature of some of his verse was disquieting to his superiors, and Gresset was dismissed from his order, spending the last part of his life in deep remorse for having undertaken a literary career in the first place. The publisher of the present item, Damase Jouaust, produced a number of special editions meant for the shelves of the great and the tasteful, books always printed on special papers and offering the option of plates in different or various states. The binder Thibaron (d. ca. 1880) was the favorite pupil of Georges Trautz (1807-79), who in Michon's words, was "the uncontested master of the luxury binding" in 19th century France, celebrated for his "sumptuous moroccos" and "dazzling gilt." His bindings were so sought after that the term "Trautzolâtrie" was coined to describe the craze for his work, and he achieved a level of celebrity that Michon says would be difficult to imagine. After Trautz retired, Thibaron established his own bindery, and according to Beraldi, he seemed poised to become heir to his master's position in the binding world, but, sadly, he died very soon afterwards, before he could begin to fulfill that promise. The provenance here is doubly distinguished. The original president of the Grolier Club, Robert Hoe is generally considered to be America's most famous collector (he is discussed further in item #2 above). Bibliophile Mortimer Schiff, in Dickinson's words, "brought together an unrivaled collection of decorative bindings." His bibliopegic interest was at least as strong as Hoe's, and he frequently obtained beautifully bound books that had previously been in the older collector's library. (ST11474)