218 - DU TILLET (Jean). A Compendium of the Kings of France, Their Crowns and Houses, Together with a List of the Nobles of France. Plus, an Abridged Chronicle containing all that has occurred, both in matters of war and otherwise, between kings and princes, republics, and foreign potentates. Paris, Jacques du Puys, 1580. 2 parts in one folio volume, marbled calfskin, gilded coat of arms in the center, decorated spine, red edges (18th-century binding).

DU TILLET (Jean). A Compendium of the Kings of France, Their Crowns and Houses, Together with a List of the Nobles of France. Plus, an Abridged Chronicle containing all that has occurred, both in matters of war and otherwise, between kings and princes, republics, and foreign potentates. Paris, Jacques du Puys, 1580. 2 parts in one folio volume, marbled calfskin, gilded coat of arms in the center, decorated spine, red edges (18th-century binding). First edition, illustrated with portraits of sovereigns and numerous woodcut coats of arms within the text. The *Recueil des rangs des grands de France*, with continuous pagination, has a title page dated 1579; the second part contains the *Chronique abbrégée*... (Saffroy, no. 10253.) This posthumous work by Jean du Tillet, a jurist and historian who died in 1570, is a major source for the history of France. A restored copy, with the woodcuts retouched and the coats of arms in the text carefully illuminated in the 19th century. Bearing the coat of arms of Prosper, Count of Bruce, General Councilor of the Ardennes: during the second half of the 19th century, this scholar and passionate book collector had amassed some 6,000 volumes in his library at the Château d’Harzillemont (OHR, pl. 952). From the library of J.B. Th. de Jonghe (III, 1860, no. 7241). Lacks the third part, published in 1588. Slight water stain at the top of a few quires; a minor tear in the margin of two leaves (V1 and rr1); a tear at the corner of the last leaf, which is blank. The red pigment has bled onto the facing pages. Spine rebuilt with the original decoration reapplied; corners restored; some scuffing on the covers. Expert: Mr. Dominique Courvoisier