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ALDE

30 - BLEGNY (Nicolas de). Le Bon usage du thé, du caffé et du cho…
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Estimate €300 - €400
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Description
BLEGNY (Nicolas de). Le Bon usage du thé, du caffé et du chocolat pour la préservation & la guerison des maladies. Lyon, Thomas Amaulry, 1687. In-12, brown basane, spine decorated, spotted edges (Binding of the period). Very rare first edition. The illustration includes a frontispiece by Bouchet and thirteen full-page figures by Johann Hainzelmann. The first figure repeats, with variations, the subject of the frontispiece: a Chinese man plucking leaves and drinking tea liquor; the others show plants from which tea, coffee and chocolate are made, teapots and coffee pots, the preparation of cocoa paste and the chocolate-maker's tools. On Nicolas de Blegny (1643-1722), "a curious character who can be classed as a charlatan", see Gérard Oberlé's interesting note in Les Fastes de Bacchus et de Comus. The present treatise is his best work. It comprises four parts, the first three of which are devoted to tea, coffee and chocolate respectively, while the fourth contains an explanation of the figures and a rather unusual catalogue of "goods that are currently dispensed by the artists of the Royal Laboratory of the Quatre-Nations", such as onion water, diabotanum, Catholic orvietan and even spring-loaded balaclavas for straightening squinty eyes. Handwritten bookplates on the title Du Verger (crossed out) and Borel. From the library of Olivier de Gourcuff, with ex-libris. Marginal ink stain pp. 33-34, tear without missing p. 223-4, stain on first board. Vicaire, 97 - Oberlé, n°734 - Cagle, n°83 - Bitting, 44 - Hunt, n°376.
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About the sale Gastronomy - A collection of menus
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Auction time 06/09/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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