[DU FAIL (Christmas).] - Lot 39

[DU FAIL (Christmas).] The Tales and Discourses of Eutrapel. By the late Lord of La Herissaye, a Breton gentleman In Rennes, for Noël Glamet, of Quimpercorentin, 1585. In-8, [1 (of 2)]-223 (incorrectly numbered as 219)-(1) folios; [sign. A-Dd8, Ee4]. 19th-century imitation tan sheepskin, decorated ribbed spine, red title label, gilded panels, double gilded fillet on the covers, gilt edges (scuffing, upper joint cracked, faint angular water stain on a few leaves, small hole affecting a few characters on f. 90, light stain on f. 134–135, soiling on f. 159 and 216, missing title page). A rare first edition of this 16th-century facetious, Rabelaisian collection. Printed in Paris by Jean Richer under the fictitious address of N. Glamet in Rennes. The colorful Noël du Fail, Lord of La Herissaye, a Breton gentleman born around 1520 at the Château-Letard manor near Rennes, was known as a jurist and a witty author. His entertaining yet serious work is considered an interesting account of 16th-century rural society in Brittany. Only 4 copies are listed in the CCFr (BnF and Institut de France). A fine copy. Traces of an ex libris on the title page from a former owner; old pen marks in the margins of a few pages. At the bottom of the title page, a Latin motto, *Bene notus per bonus*, in 16th-century handwriting, may indicate a former owner from that period. An old handwritten name in pen on the reverse of the title page. Gay I, 690. Tchemerzine, III, 110. Brunet II, 1164 (identical collation but with a variant in the title). The whimsical address is revealed by L. Loviot, “L’Imprimeur des Contes d’Eutrapel, 1585,” *Revue des livres anciens*, II, 3, 1916 (BnF catalog entry).