Le premier [- douziesme] livre de Amadis de Gaule, qui traicte de maintes adventures d'Armes & d'Amours, qu'eurent plusieurs Chevaliers & Dames, tant du royaulme de la grand Bretaigne, que d'aultres pays [...].

14 parts in 4 vol., folio (usual toning, some spotting and soiling, light water stains, some stronger, minor ink stains, some marg. tiny tears, a few ff. reinforced, occ. contemp. ms. annot., occ. errors in foliation; vol. 1: title of Book IV missing, vol. 3: tiny wormtracks and -holes, some touching the text, tear in text of f. cxxxix of Book IX, vol. IV: ff. a1-e2 of Book X missing and title replaced by a 17th-c.? facsimile, ff. a1-a8 of Book XI missing, ff. a1-a2 of Book XII missing, marg. tiny wormtrack in Book XII).

18th-c. Bourgogne calf, richly gilt, covers semé with flames ruled with borders, spine with raised bands in same style, a.e.g. (vol. 1 skillfully and identically repaired by Bernard in 1922, corners with sm. def., covers with local stains, joints sl. rubbed, mod. flyleaves, head of vol. 4 torn).

Extr. rare composite set in first edition, except Books I, IV and X in 2nd or 3rd edition (Books IV and V are in double), of the 1st Fr. transl. of the chivalrous saga of Amadis, complete with the 12 books. The translation of Books I-VIII, commissioned by King Francis I of France, is the work of Nicolas Herberay des Essarts, who died in 1552. The next four were translated into French between 1552 and 1556 by Gilles Boileau (Book IX), Jacques Gohory (Books X and XI) and Guillaume Aubert (Book XII). Our set consists of the following: Vol. 1: Book I: D. Janot for V. Sertenas, 1544; Book II: D. Janot for V. Sertenas, 1541; Book III: D. Janot for J. Longis, 1542 (colophon: 1 Dec. 1541); Book IV: D. Janot for V. Sertenas, 10 Feb. 1543 [= after 6 May 1544]; Book V: D. Janot for V. Sertenas, (6 May) 1544. Vol. 2: Book IV: s.n. for V. Sertenas, 1555; Book V: D. Janot for J. Longis, (6 May) 1544; Book VI: J. de Marnef for V. Sertenas, (25 July) 1545. Vol. 3: Book VII: J. de Marnef for V. Sertenas, (24 March) 1546; Book VIII: E. Groulleau for J. Longis, (28 Aug.) 1548; Book IX: (E. Groulleau for him and) Jean Longis (and V. Sertenas), 1551; Book X: (E. Groulleau for J. Longis and V. Sertenas, 1555); Book XI: (E. Groulleau) for J. Longis and V. Sertenas, 1554; Book XII: E. Groulleau for J. Longis and V. Sertenas, 1566. Ill. with an impressive number of fine woodcuts in-text and some full-page.
Ref. BnF. - BP16 (Books IX-XII not in BP16). - USTC. - Cp. Mortimer I:18.
Prov. Ms. entries. - G. de Berny (bookpl., vol. I). - François-César Le Tellier (1718-1781), marquis of Courtanvaux, and Louise-Antoinette de Gontaut (1718-1737) (armorial bookpl., vol. II-IV).