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the front page of a book with a drawing of a cross on it
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128 - PLANTAVIT DE LA PAUSE (Jean de).
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Estimate €600 - €800
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Description
PLANTAVIT DE LA PAUSE (Jean de). Chronologia præsulum lodovensium. [Aramon, at the author’s expense], 1634. In-4, soft vellum (contemporary binding). A single, very rare edition of this chronology of the bishops of Lodève, dedicated to Cardinal Richelieu. The work contains biographies of the 102 bishops who succeeded one another at the head of the diocese from the 4th century until 1633, including that of the author, Jean de Plantavit de La Pause (1579–1651), Bishop of Lodève from 1625. The volume is adorned with a beautiful intaglio-engraved frontispiece, but, like most known copies, it lacks the printed title page bearing the inscription: ‘Aramontii, sumptibus authoris’. In fact, the place of printing for this edition is uncertain. According to Charles Labande, it was, in fact, printed in Avignon by Jean Piot, at a time when Plantavit de La Pause, exiled from his diocese following his involvement in the Duke of Montmorency’s revolt, was living not far from the City of the Popes. Other bibliographers, such as Desgraves and Deschamps, believe it was printed in Lodève – which would make it the first book ever printed in that town. Finally, it could also be the only work ever printed in Aramon, a small village near Avignon, where, according to Desbarreaux-Bernard, the Toulouse-based printer Arnaud Colomiez is said to have moved with his equipment. Handwritten bookplates crossed out on the title page. Chronology of bishops continued up to 1750 on the final introductory leaf. Scattered foxing and water stains; the binding is stained and has come away from the body of the book. Desgraves, Lodève, IX, p. 65 – Deschamps, 730 – Labande, ‘A problem in typographical history: the printer of the *Chronologia præsulum lodovensium*, published in Aramon in 1634’, Mémoires de l’Académie de Vaucluse, vol. XVII (1898), pp. 267–272.
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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
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