MONTAIGNE (Michel de.). - Lot 52

MONTAIGNE (Michel de.). Les Essais de Michel seigneur de Montaigne. Édition nouvelle. Corrigée suivant les premières Impressions de l'Angelier. Et augmentée d'annotations en marge, de toutes les Matieres plus remarquables. Avec la vie de l'Autheur extraicte de ses propres Escrits. Paris : Michel Blageart, 1640 - In-folio, 420 x 280 : (6 ff.), 750 pp., (7 ff.). Red morocco, double framed with large gilt roulettes on the boards, ornate spine, inner gilt roulette, gilt edges (period binding). Richard Sayce & David Maskell, n° 27, p. 128. - Tchémerzine, IV, p. 898. Beautiful edition based on the one given by Mademoiselle de Gournay in 1595 by Abel l'Angelier. It is considered the most faithful to the text of the Essays of all those printed in the 17th century. It was shared between Blageart and Augustin Courbé. The title, printed in red and black, is adorned with an intaglio portrait of Montaigne. One of the rare copies on large paper, with very wide margins, in contemporary red morocco. It comes from the library of the English poet and bibliophile Thomas Westwood (1814-1888), author of the Bibliotheca Piscatoria published in 1883, a reference bibliography on angling. Lack at head cover, wear rubs, some spotting and soiling. Endpapers renewed. Light foxing in the margins of a few leaves. Stains in the margins of pages 218-219 and 396-397. Provenance: Thomas Westwood, with bookplate.