[16th c. book]. BELLEFOREST (François de); GILLES (Nicole). - Lot 66

[16th c. book]. BELLEFOREST (François de); GILLES (Nicole). Les chroniques et annales de France dès l'origine des Francoys, et leur venue es Gaules A present reveues, corrigées & augmentées Avec les genealogies, & effigies des Roys au plus près du naturel, & une table alphabetique, ordonnee parlieux communs. A Paris, chez Gabriel Buon, 1573. In-folio, [32] f. (title, privilege, epistle, table), 531 ill-figured f., 17th c. brown calf, 5-ribbed spine, title-piece, speckled edges, binding restored, endpapers renewed (rubbing at head of spine, light spotting, 5 f. lacking). Edition shared between the booksellers Gabriel Buon and Nicolas Du Chemin, illustrated with 7 full-page genealogical tables, portraits of the kings of France, and numerous wood-engraved initials. Nicole Gilles (142?-1503), secretary to Charles VIII and then Louis XI, and controller of the royal treasury, is the author of these chronicles and annals, a historical compilation written up to the reign of Charles VIII. This work can be considered the first of the Histoires de France. Some copies, like this one, contain the table at the beginning, others at the end, signed A-D6 E4. The text ends with the word "fin" (sign. RRr1), but f. RRr2 to 6 are missing. Old signature on title, qq. reading marks and rare ink underlining. (USTC 62804 (shared) and 7018 (Du Chemin alone); Brunet II, 1598).