Le premier [- second] livre du preux, vaillant et tres-victorieux chevalier Palmerin d’Angleterre, filz du roy Dom Edoard [...]. Traduit du Castillan en François par maistre Iaques Vincent, du Crest Arnauld en Dauphiné [...].

Folio: [8]-300, [1-1 bl.-1-1 bl.-3-1 bl.]-254-[2 bl.] pp. (sl. toned, some very minor soiling or spotting).

19th-c. crimson morocco by Capé, covers with blind-ruled border and decoration, gilt central ornament and corner-pieces, gilt spine on 6 raised bands, gilt sides, a.e.g., gilt inside dentelles, marbled endpapers, cloth marker. Excellent well-preserved copy.

"Palmeirim de Inglaterra" is a famous chivalric novel written under the influence of "Amadis de Gaule". It was originally composed in Portuguese by Francisco de Moraes (1500-1572) in 1544 and published in 1567. At that time it was already widely known through the Spanish translation by Luis Hurtado of 1547. The "Palmerins" consist of eight books dealing with the exploits and loves of Palmerin d’Oliva, emperor of Constantinople, and his various descendants, of which Palmerin of England is the subject of the sixth. Munday translated the Palmerin cycle into English (through a French intermediary), 1581–1595. It was highly popular with the Elizabethan middle classes. The French translation by Jacques Vincent (d. 1556) was made after Hurtado’s Spanish version. The printing of vol. I was finished on 24 November 1552, and of vol. II on 10 January 1553. Woodcut mark on titles. Numerous large historiated and decorative woodcut initials.
Ref. SvGültlingen (Payen) 326 = Baudrier IV:256. - Pettegree FB 40401-02. - STC French (BL) 335. - Not in Adams.
Prov. Remarquable pedigree: [William] Harry Vane Milbank (1848-1892, armorial bookpl. and inscription dated "1878"). - James Hartmann (leather bookpl.). - 19th-c. English collector of French literature (library sold Paris 1887). - Paul Couturier de Royas (1853-1934, Dauphiné bibliophile, with 2 different bookplates). - [Georges Petit].