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an old book is open on a table with a black backgroundan open book with a drawing on it sitting on top of a tablean open book with a drawing of a man and woman in a boatan open book with a picture of a man on a horse and a man on a horsean old book sitting on top of a table covered in dirtan old book sitting on top of a table next to an old book
LES ANDELYS ENCHERES

472 - [COUSIN (Jean)]. Illustrations of the Stories from the Holy …
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Estimate €100 - €150
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Description
[COUSIN (Jean)]. Illustrations of the Stories from the Holy Bible, accompanied by brief discourses, containing the greater part of the sacred stories of the Old and New Testaments, and of the marvellous works of the living God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and of Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Saviour and Redeemer. For the regular devotion of devout and contemplative souls. Paris, Guillaume Le Bé, 165[…]. In-2, two volumes and one folio, contemporary calfskin binding. (damage and loss to the binding, incomplete, worm-eaten). This work, first published in 1596 by Jean Le Clerc (1560–1621?), is known as the ‘Bible of Jean Le Clerc’ or the ‘Bible of Jean Cousin’, as the illustrations have been attributed to Jean Cousin (1536?–1594?). The exquisite series of 272 woodcuts is believed to be the work of Jean Le Clerc, a Parisian printer, bookseller and engraver. Whilst the texts underwent only minor changes over the course of the various editions, the same woodblocks (including those for the title page frame) were used for nearly 130 years. The original printer-bookseller (editions of 1596 and 1614) was succeeded by Guillaume Le Bé, the most prolific, Robert Pépié and Antoine Rafflé, and finally Alexis de La Roche and Jean Lesclapart (1724 edition). The ‘Figures of the Bible’ refer to a genre that flourished from the 1530s onwards, depicting the Holy Scriptures through iconographic series. In these collections of engravings—initially on wood and later on copper—the texts and images are closely interlinked. The ‘Figures of the Bible’ are akin to books of emblems, another literary genre in images that was very much in vogue at the same time, and from which they adopted the layout. On each page, an engraving is preceded by a title and followed by a text (equivalent to the motto and epigram in the *Emblemata*). This three-part structure reveals several levels of interpretation.
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About the sale ART OBJECTS, CERAMICS, GLASSWARE, TABLEWARE
Auction location
Auction time 09/30/2026 at 1:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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