1 / 9
a book with a drawing of a man on a horse in front of a buildingan old book with a brown cover and gold triman old book with a picture of a man and a woman on itan open book with a picture of a horse on itan open book with a black and white image of a man and a womanan open book with a drawing of a man on a horse and a man on a horsean open book on a table with writing on itan old book sitting on top of a table next to a white backgroundan old book with a picture of a man on it
MILLON

447 - PLUVINEL (Antoine de). The King’s Instruction on the Art of …
See original version (French)

Estimate €1,500 - €2,500
Sale commission
Description
PLUVINEL (Antoine de). The King’s Instruction on the Art of Riding, by Sir Antoine de Pluvinel, his Deputy Governor, Councillor in his Council of State, Ordinary Chamberlain and his Chief Squire. In this work, he draws His Majesty’s attention to the excellence of his method for training horses, in a short space of time, to obey the correct proportions of all the various gaits and manoeuvres. The whole is enriched with large engravings, depicting the true and natural movements of men and horses in all the gaits and manoeuvres, ring races, jousting in the list, at the Quintan, and sword fighting, together with illustrations of the bridles most essential for this purpose, designed and engraved by Crispian de Pas the Younger. Paris, Michel Nivelle, 1625. Folio comprising [1] title leaf, [5] pp. (Menou’s epistle to the King), a bust portrait (surrounded by figures and ornamentation) of Roger de Bellegarde (mounted on laid paper on the reverse), [1] folio of privilege with a portrait of René de Menou de Charnizay engraved on the reverse, a fine title page engraved across two pages by Crispin de Pas, [1] folio of table of contents for the entire work with a large portrait of Louis XIII engraved on the reverse (large tear restored, no pages missing), [1] folio: engraved portrait of Ant. de Pluvinel and table of figures on the reverse, 207 pp., 49 double-page engraved plates after Crispin de Pas (out of 50), 6 plates of bit figures engraved as separate illustrations. Short top margin; foxing and/or wear at the folds of the plates. “Pluvinel had a reputation as an upright, reliable and enlightened man. Consequently, he was entrusted with important missions abroad and, in part, with the education of the Dauphin, who was to become Louis XIII (…) Shortly before his death, Henry IV had sent Pluvinel to Holland on a mission to the Stadtholder Maurice. It was there that he became friends with Crispin de Pas, whom he brought to France to teach drawing at his Academy; de Pas drew and engraved the beautiful plates for his work, and his name is, in this respect, inseparable from Pluvinel’s. As deputy governor to the Dauphin, Pluvinel gave the prince his first lessons in horsemanship (…) right up until the early years of his coming of age. These lessons rightly brought him great renown and marked the beginning of the rise of horsemanship in France. Pluvinel had, on the orders of Louis XIII himself, taken notes (…) He entrusted his manuscript to his pupil and friend René Menou de Charnizay (…) Pluvinel died, and Crispin de Pas, who had already completed half the plates and who also seems to have been somewhat short of money at the time (…) finished the remaining ones and, in order to publish the work for which they were intended, he approached, without Menou’s knowledge, a certain Peyrol, a ‘domestic servant’ of Pluvinel, who provided him with a truncated, inaccurate and incomplete copy of his master’s manuscript. De Pas immediately published the whole work at his own expense under the title *Maneige royal*. When Menou became aware of the book (…) he was outraged and (…) compiled a new work based on Pluvinel’s complete notes and his own recollections, accurately conveying the thoughts of his master and friend, and faithfully reproducing the lessons he had given to the King (…) He gave this work the title ‘Instruction du Roi en l’exercice de monter à cheval’ and used the same plates by Crispin de Pas.” Mennessier de La Lance, II, 326–329.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Bibliophilia (sale without a live event)
Auction location
Auction time 09/09/2026 at 1:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like