D. Godefroy, 1622

PRIZE BINDING – GODEFROY, Denis (1549-1622). Auctores Latinae linguae in unum redacti corpus.Geneva: Peter and Jacob Chouet, 1622.

A Latin sourcebook in a prize binding from the Collège des Grassins. Grassins was one of the nine constituent colleges of the University of Paris, operating from 1560 to 1793. Dedicated to the study of the humanities, the college became a center of Cartesianism during the Enlightenment. The present book was awarded as a student prize in 1649.

Quarto (240 x 160mm). A few woodcut illustrations and diagrams; woodcut initials and head pieces (some spotting and occasional stains, some light edge dampstaining). Woodcut of the Grassins arms on small slip laid in. Contemporary brown calf prize binding, semé with gilt fleurs-de-lys, in the centers the arms of the Collège des Grassins (repairs at caps and edge of front board). Provenance: “Nicolaus Julien” (presentation inscription by Grassins master Jean Coqueret, awarding a prize to Nicolaus Julien on 24 August 1649) – Henriette Marie-Thérèse Dauphine de Pontevès de Sabran (1878-1955; armorial bookplate).