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55 - [MANUSCRIPT - VOYAGE]. Voyage d'Italie 1700.
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Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
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Description
[MANUSCRIPT - VOYAGE]. Voyage d'Italie 1700. S.l., early 18th century. - 2 volumes folio, 422 x 270 : 332 pp. 23 plates ; pp. 330-841. Brown calf, spine ribbed and decorated, interior gilt roulette, red speckled edges (period binding). An unpublished and precious manuscript of more than 800 pages relating the journey to Italy of an anonymous young man in his twenties. This account, written with remarkable erudition, begins with an intimate statement: "One of my strongest inclinations has always been that of travelling; of all the countries that Europe offers to my curiosity, none has ever seemed to me more capable of fulfilling it than Rome and Italy; the superb and pompous descriptions that I had read, the extraordinary ideas with which a Pope and Cardinals fill the mind, and above all an ardent desire to see places that the reading of authors and poets made familiar to me, contributed greatly to making me want to make this journey; I was about to enter my twentieth year, my studies of philosophy and law finished, and I thought I could make no better use of these early years of youth, when my uncertain mind did not know what to choose, than on a useful and pleasant journey. I hoped that the accidents to which one is exposed when one is outside one's own country, and the knowledge of the customs and geniuses of the different peoples among whom I would be passing, would put me in a position to make solid reflections, and to embrace on my return a state of life with more reason and judgement". Leaving Paris on 12 January 1700, this young traveller crossed France and Italy, passing through Fontainebleau, Nevers, Moulin, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille, Genoa, Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, Turin and many other cities. Each stage is carefully described, combining social, historical and personal observations. He devoted most of his narrative to Rome, where he arrived on 23 March 1700 and left on 1 January 1701. The city, its monuments and its surroundings are depicted with great precision, enriched by historical digressions that bear witness to his profound culture. He also spent a long time in Venice, from 25 January to 10 February, where he depicted the city of the Doges with the same rigour. Of particular interest is this passage on commedia dell'arte, which he wrote in connection with his stopover in Bergamo: "The Bergamasque dialect is so ridiculous that all the harlequins who play the roles of valets in Italian comedies use it; this gives me reason to make a small remark about the comedies: they are always the same actors, and each one speaks his own particular language; the Doctor uses Bolonese; the Pantaloon uses Venetian; Scaramouche is Neapolitan; the Lovers and the Mistresses are Roman; It is true that everything is Italian, but there is the same difference as that between the way we speak among the beau monde of Paris, and that which we speak in Gascony, or which the little people of Normandy use to express themselves" (pp. 806-807). His journey ended on 21 March 1701. The author has enriched his account with 44 very fine fold-out engravings from various collections dating from the end of the 17th century, 32 of which are mounted on canvas. These engravings mainly concern Rome and its surroundings. On the provenance and identity of the author, we find this note on the first endpaper of the first volume: "This account comes from the library of Madame de Paillot, née Hélène de l'Horme, widow of Colonel Anatole de Paillot, who died at the Château de Ternan, near Pont-de-Vaux (Ain) on 10 March 1926. She believed it to have been written by a member of the Paillot family. She gave it to me in [...]. Joseph Roserot de Melin". Joseph Roserot de Melin (1879-1968) was a paleographic archivist and a member of the École française de Rome from 1919 to 1921. Bindings rubbed, two hinges cracked, head of first volume damaged and missing, corners dulled. Several engravings torn but not missing, some wet. Soiling to several leaves. Provenance: Paillot family. - Joseph Roserot de Melin.
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About the sale ENLUMINATIONS, ANCIENT and MODERN BOOKS
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Auction time 06/17/2026 at 2:00 PM
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