47 - CUSTOMS of the Government of Péronne, Montdidier, and Roye, established and set forth in writing in the presence of the members of the three Estates of the said Government, by us, Christophle de Thou, Knight, First President of the Court of Parliament, and Counselor to the King in his Privy Council, Barthelemy Faye and Jacques Viole, Counselors to the said Lord in the said Court of Parliament, and Commissioners appointed by him. Paris, Jehan Dallier, 1569. In-4, contemporary binding in fawn calfskin, covers adorned with four large oval motifs divided by interlaced panels decorated with ironwork highlighted with gray-blue wax on an azure background, smaller motifs decorated in the same style in the center, in the corners, and on the sides, all set against a background of scattered golden florets; spine decorated lengthwise with repeating golden motifs; gilt edges.

CUSTOMS of the Government of Péronne, Montdidier, and Roye, established and set forth in writing in the presence of the members of the three Estates of the said Government, by us, Christophle de Thou, Knight, First President of the Court of Parliament, and Counselor to the King in his Privy Council, Barthelemy Faye and Jacques Viole, Counselors to the said Lord in the said Court of Parliament, and Commissioners appointed by him. Paris, Jehan Dallier, 1569. In-4, contemporary binding in fawn calfskin, covers adorned with four large oval motifs divided by interlaced panels decorated with ironwork highlighted with gray-blue wax on an azure background, smaller motifs decorated in the same style in the center, in the corners, and on the sides, all set against a background of scattered golden florets; spine decorated lengthwise with repeating golden motifs; gilt edges. Collation: 2 leaves, the first blank, the second bearing a painted coat of arms; 4 preliminary leaves signed *4 (title page, Latin dedication by Adrien Faber to President de Thou and his advisors, Latin poem by Jean Lagnières, charter, table of contents); 70 folios numbered and signed A-R4, S2. First edition of these customs, later reprinted in the *Coutumier de Picardie* (1726). Beginning in 1555, the royal government undertook a vast campaign to reform customary law, which had coexisted, with varying degrees of success, for centuries alongside Roman law on the one hand and royal and seigneurial courts on the other. The goal was to rationalize and standardize this law—which encompassed both civil and criminal matters—at the initiative and under the authority of the king, who thereby sought to strengthen his legislative power in a domain that had until then been partially beyond his control. With this in mind, the task of drafting new texts by amending the old ones was entrusted to royal commissioners, who were then responsible for submitting their draft, in the king’s name, to the assemblies of the provincial estates. For the cities and provinces under the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Paris—comprising nearly one-third of the kingdom—this mission was entrusted to Christophe de Thou (1508–1582) —father of the famous historian and bibliophile Jacques Auguste de Thou—then president of that parliament and who would become its First President in 1562, was entrusted with this mission. With the help of his advisors Barthélémy Faye and Jacques Viole, he drafted, over the course of some 25 years until his death in 1582, about twenty sets of customs, ranging from those of Sens (1555) to those of Paris. The high quality of the texts produced by these first-rate jurists meant that the Estates almost always accepted them without objection. Fewer in number than before, the customs would henceforth apply to larger jurisdictions. Having taken their final form, these texts remained in force until the end of the Ancien Régime. A PRECIOUS COPY, ONE OF ONLY TWO OR THREE KNOWN ON VELIN SKIN (1), RULED AND CAREFULLY ILLUMINATED, COVERED IN A REMARKABLE BINDING WITH RICH AND HIGHLY ORIGINAL ORIENTAL-INSPIRED DECOR, OF A RARE TYPE. On a sheet of white vellum facing the title page, the coat of arms—undoubtedly that of the recipient—has been painted full-page in gold and color. This coat of arms, described as azure with a chevron of gold, accompanied in chief by two silver crescents and in base by three silver bezants, could belong to a member of the Briois family, of the Ponthieu branch. The title page is adorned with the crowned initials P, M, and R—representing the coats of arms of the three towns, Péronne, Montdidier, and Roye—and with Jehan Dallier’s white rose mark (Silvestre, 308), all painted in gold. At the top of the dedication, a miniaturized banner (repeated at the beginning of the Minutes) and a superb initial adorned with an elegant bust portrait of a man in a black doublet blowing a bugle, surrounded by a rich floral decoration painted in red, green, pink, and blue on a gold background. Large illuminated initial with a grotesque motif at the beginning of the text, repeated in the “Procès verbal.” Miniature coat of arms of Charles IX on the verso of the last leaf. Skillfully restored binding. Slight sign of rubbing on the portrait (the man’s face). Minimal marginal stains on one or two leaves. From the Lucien-Graux (II, 1957, no. 26, sold for 320,000 francs) and Gérard de Berny (I, 1958, No. 11, sold for 250,000 francs), with bookplates. 1- Van Praet (Vélins de la Bibliothèque du Roi, II, No. 159) describes the copy from the Royal Library—which belongs to Barthélémy Faye—enriched, as here, with his coat of arms painted in gold and color at the beginning of the volume, and also cites a copy that appeared in 1722 at the sale of the Petau Library (no. 880, with no description of the binding or condition), which could be the one we have here. Brunet (II, 383) mentions only the copy in the Imperial Library. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in