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an old book with a decorative design on the coveran old book with a picture of a man and a woman on it
ALDE

102 - [SALES (François de)]. CAUSSIN (Nicolas).
See original version (French)

Estimate €800 - €1,000
Sale commission
Description
[SALES (François de)]. CAUSSIN (Nicolas). Treatise on Spiritual Conduct, in the spirit of Blessed François de Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva. Paris, Sébastien Chappelet, 1637. 8vo, fawn morocco, metal border featuring a dauphin and fleur-de-lis framed by double fillets, spandrels with small metal motifs and fleurs-de-lis, coat of arms in the centre, plain spine adorned with gilded rosettes, gilded edges, traces of fastenings (contemporary binding). An original edition of the utmost rarity. The USTC lists no copies of this first edition and considers it lost (two copies, however, are preserved in the university libraries of Maastricht and Fribourg). The work was reprinted in Douai in 1643, then in Lyon in 1649; it was included in the Œuvres de François de Sales published in Paris in 1647, and translated into Italian and Spanish. This work on the doctrine of François de Sales (1567–1622) is the work of Nicolas Caussin (1583–1651), a Jesuit preacher born in Troyes who, in that very same year, 1637, became Louis XIII’s confessor and spiritual director. Caussin, however, ‘did not carry out this task to Richelieu’s satisfaction; and according to the most common opinion, says Bayle, this was because he behaved as a man of integrity ought to’ (Sommervogel). He was exiled to Quimper after a few months and was only able to return to Paris upon the death of the cardinal-minister. He was then chosen to respond to the criticism of his order published by Antoine Arnauld, in the *Apology for the Religious of the Society of Jesus*, which he published in 1644. A luxuriously bound copy bearing the coat of arms of Federico Sforza (1603–1676), papal vice-legate in Avignon from 1637 to 1645, when he was created a cardinal by Innocent X. He was elected Bishop of Rimini in 1646, Camerlengo of the Sacred College in 1659 and Bishop of Tivoli in 1675. The armorial plate depicts the original coat of arms of the Sforza family: azure, a lion Or holding a quince Or with a stem and leaves vert. This is a prize book awarded by the papal vice-legate, which was presented to a pupil at the Jesuit college in Avignon named Franciscus Maria de Zenobis to reward him for his tragedy about two missionaries who died as martyrs in Japan (De Michaëlibus duobus apud Japones Martÿribus fratribus tragœdiam), with a handwritten Latin ‘ex-præmio’ signed by the Prefect of Studies, D. Girardot, and dated 10 September 1640. Binding slightly rubbed, three corners worn, foxing and pinholes, a few browned leaves, 2 ff. creased, a hole in 3 blank ff. caused by the removal of a wax seal (affecting a few letters of the ex-præmio). Cioranescu, no. 18039 – Sommervogel, II, 919, no. 13 – USTC 6004176 (‘lost book’).
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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