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an old book with a red cover and gold trim on a white backgrounda black and white drawing of a monument with a plaque on it
ALDE

9 - LOUBAYSSIN DE LA MARQUE (François).
See original version (French)

Estimate €4,000 - €5,000
Sale commission
Description
LOUBAYSSIN DE LA MARQUE (François). The Heroic and Romantic Adventures of Count Raymond of Toulouse and Don Roderic of Vivar. Paris, Toussaint du Bray, 1619. 2 parts in one small 8vo volume, red morocco, gilt fillet binding, ribbed spine with gilt decoration, gilt interior lace, gilt edges (Hardy-Mennil). Title-frontispiece, 6 ff., engraved portrait of the author aged 23, 471 pp. – Title, 9 ff., 484 pp. A very rare first edition of this chivalric novel.  Little is known about François Loubayssin de La Marque (or de La Marca), a Gascon gentleman born in 1588. Contrary to what the title might suggest, this is not a story of male romance. The story centres on Sid Campeador, otherwise known as El Cid, in Spain during the Moorish period. ‘Now, this Cid is more preoccupied with romantic adventures than with military exploits.’ The subject of the siege of Zamora is drawn from the *Romancero*; the author draws on the legend of a secret love affair between the Spanish paladin and the infanta Doña Urraca – might there be echoes of this episode in Corneille’s *Le Cid*? ‘Loubayssin promised a second part which has not been found or which, in all likelihood, never saw the light of day,’ says Losada Goya. This extremely rare second part, present in this copy, is also unknown to Lever and Cioranescu. From the Gustave Mouravit library (1938, I, no. 366), with a stamp. A fine copy. Losada Goya 483 – Lever 26 – Cioranescu 43762.
See original version (French)
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About the sale Xavier de Planhol Library – The Origins of the Novel
Auction location
Auction time 09/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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