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an old book sitting on top of a white table next to a white wallan old book with a picture of a man on a horse on it
ALDE

172 - MONTLUC (Adrien de). *Les Jeux de l’inconnu*.
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Estimate €400 - €500
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Description
MONTLUC (Adrien de). *Les Jeux de l’inconnu*. Expanded to include several additional plays in this latest edition. Rouen, Jacques Cailloué, 1645. In-8, ivory vellum, gilt fillet binding, arabesques at the corners, decorated spine, gilt edges (19th-century binding). 4 ff., 390 pp.  An expanded edition, published a year before the death of Cramail, grandson of Marshal de Montluc. The first edition dates from 1630. It is a collection of prose satires directed against the ridiculous and pedantic style of language then in vogue. It comprises 16 short tales or anecdotes that allude to a well-known work, through the adventures recounted therein and, above all, through their style. This edition contains pieces not found in previous editions: *L’infortune des filles de joye*, *Le Courtisan grotesque*… This last tale is peppered with puns (The Grotesque Courtier emerged one leap day from the Palace of the Mouth, dressed in verdigris. He wore a mantelpiece...) – jokes imitated a century later by M. de Bièvre, who is regarded as the inventor of the genre.  Gay II, 716 – Lever 240 – Viollet-Le-Duc pp. 172–173.
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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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