[Sixteenth-century book]. BOUCHET (Jean). Les triu[m]phes de - Lot 72

[Sixteenth-century book]. BOUCHET (Jean). Les triu[m]phes de la noble et amoureuse Dame et l'art de honnestement aymer. A Paris, par Jehan Longis, 1537. Fort in-8, [12] f. (including title), 390 f. (mal chif. for 388), contemporary brown calf, spine with 5 nerves, fragmentary cover restored (sporadic angular wetness, stain at corner of title, corner missing from margin on f. 114, 115 and 168). Uncommon edition, shared between several Parisian booksellers. USTC locates only a dozen copies at all addresses, including 2 under the name of Jean Longis. Originally published in Poitiers in 1530, Les triumphes de la noble et amoureuse Dame is one of the most famous works by Poitiers poet and historian Jean Bouchet (1476-ca 1557-59), a friend of Rabelais and Ronsard (the poet's father). Written in verse and prose, this curious mystical work, whose noble and amorous Damen is none other than the soul itself, and whose triumph is the fulfillment of virtue and morality in everyday life according to the Church, is also of human interest, with chapters on the relationship between husband and wife, child-rearing, dietetics, anatomy (including a description of the reproductive organs), and so on. Addressing women in particular, leTraverseur des voyes périlleuses, the author's self-appointed nickname, dedicates his book to the Queen of France, Eleanor of Austria, wife of King Francis I. It is a precious testimony to the daily life of couples during the Renaissance. This copy was treated and restored in 1981, with the binding completely rebound and the old parts preserved. (USTC 24053; Brunet I, 1161-62).