GUYDE (Philibert).

La Colombiere, & Maison rustique [...]. Paris, Jamet Mettayer, s.d. [ca. 1586-1588]. In-8, brown calf, gilt fillet, gilt cartouche in center, ornate spine, gilt edges (period binding). Edition dedicated to Cardinal Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Maine and Governor of the Duchy of Burgundy, and enlarged from the 1583 original. The only printed work by Philibert Guide, known as Hégémon (1535-1595), a poet and fabulist from Chalon-sur-Saône, La Colombière is part of a body of 16th-century literary texts celebrating rustic life and the beauties of the countryside, the most famous of which is Claude Gauchet's Le Plaisir de la vie rustique (1583). This work, which is rare and sought-after, includes a Description des douze moys & quatre saisons de l'année, avec enseignement de ce que le laboureur doit faire par chaque moys, and the Épithètes poétiques des arbres, plantes, herbes, animaux terrestres et aquatiques, des pierres précieuses et des métaux. Also included are the Fables morales for which the author is renowned, hymns and various poems, including this moving Chant funèbre on the death of his wife Estiennette Villemenot: [...] Je veux par cy apres, ainsi que le Butor, / Demeurer solitaire, & en vray Tourterelle / Plaindre, gemir, pleurer ma compagne fidele... Fine copy. Some foxing and spotting, last leaf a little damaged. Binding badly restored and faded. Viollet-le-Duc, I, pp. 309-310. - Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°389.