BOYSSIÈRES (Jean de).

L'Arioste francoes. Avec les Argumans, & Allegories, sur châcun Chant. Premier volume. Lyon, De l'Imprimerie de Thibaud Ancelin, 1580. In-8, red morocco, triple fillet, ornate spine, interior lace, gilt edges (Trautz-Bauzonnet). First edition of this verse translation of Ariosto's chants III to XII. The first song first appeared in the Secondes Œuvres poétiques of 1578, and the second song in La Boyssière in 1579. Woodcut portrait of the poet, aged 23, on verso of the second introductory leaf. Born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1555, Jean de Boyssières first studied law, then entered the service of the Duc d'Anjou, participating as an officer in the siege and capture of Issoire (June 1577), a Protestant stronghold in Auvergne. He later abandoned his arms in favor of his pen: he tried his hand at the epic genre, publishing two epics (La Boyssière and La Croisade), translated Ariosto in particular, and even experimented with spelling. He is thought to have died in the 1580s or, at the latest, in the early 17th century. From the Robert Hoe library. Small restoration at the foot of the title, which is stained, some light foxing. Thin traces of wetness on the edges of many leaves. J. P. Barbier-Mueller, IV-1, n°52. - Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°100.