Lancelot Du Lac. [Arthurian Romance]

Le Premier (& Second) Volume De Lancelot Du Lac Nouvellement Imprime a Paris

      Anton Verard, 1494, 1 July. Folio. 2 (of 3) vols. 310 x 216mm. [a6] b-z8, A-G8, H6, I4; aa4, bb-zz8, sign reversed 2r1, sign reversed 2c4. [Lacks bb1 blank] [12], 242ff=484; [8], [2]-186 (of 187 without last blank)ff=370pp Second Verard Edition. 18th c, 1/2 calf over brown paste-paper boards, rubbed; Mildew & dampstains at ends; verso of Vol I t.p. reinforced; folios H3-I4 of Vol I defective and remargined at top with loss of some text on H6-I4; old repairs to corners or gutters of 1st & final quires of Vol II (no text loss); old owner's inscription on recto offirst leaf of volume 1 and t.p. of volume 2: Joachim, Graf Furstenberg dated 1599. The Donaueschingen Library copy. 45 lines & headling; double column; type 12: 106B. With woodcut title page with xylographic initial [Macfarlane LXII] with calligraphic flourishes & grotesque faces & 19 woodcuts (6 repeats) [Macfarlane XXVIII & XXIX]; numerous white on black, black lombard and other woodcut initials with calligraphic flourishes and grotesques. The great Vulgate Prose Lancelot was written in the thirteenth century and expanded on Chretien de Troyes' version of the Arthurian tale. It tells of Lancelot's boyhood, his adventurous growth to manhood, his enrapture with Guenevere and his meeting with the Lady of the Lake. It continues with his search for the Grail and his eventual learning that only his son Galahad could complete his quest. The Morte D'Arthur appears did not appear until the third volume printed by Verard in 1502. “ Anthoine Vérard dominated French book production in Paris from 1485 to 1512, a critical period in the shift from manuscript to print. Although he defined himself invariably as a “ humble bookseller, ” this modest epithet belies the gargantuan scale of his enterprise, for during his career he issued more than 300 editions. Even more remarkable than their sheer number, however, is their visual splendor, for Vérard was the “ father of the French illustrated book. ” [Mary Beth Winn, Verard. ]