230 - [NORMANDY] MASSEVILLE, Louis de. A Brief History of Normandy.

[NORMANDY] MASSEVILLE, Louis de. A Brief History of Normandy. First edition of this important history of Normandy, in beautiful, richly decorated bindings. Rouen, published by the Widow of Antoine Maurry and by Pierre Ferrand, 1688–1701. 5 tomes in 4 volumes, in-12 (90 x 150 mm), each bound in full light-colored sheepskin with a grain pattern, smooth spines adorned with gilt cross-hatching enhanced by a scattering of dots, special fillets, and a full-length embossed design (a quiver crossed by a bow), brown and green title and volume number labels, gilt roulette on the edges, and guilloché caps. Volume I: [1] folio, 320 pages, [8] folios. - Volume II: 377 pages, [12] folios. - Volume III: [1] folio, 404 pages, [14] folios. - Volume IV: [1] folio, 431 pages, [21] folios. - Volume V: [1] folio, 446 pp., [9] folios. The coat of arms of Normandy is repeated as a vignette on the title pages, headbands, initials, and footers. Minor scuffing, three small wormholes at the binding edges of volumes 3, 4, and 5, slight marks on the edges. Title page of the first volume reattached, pagination error in volume 2 (p. 379 instead of 377), rare foxing, mainly in the margins. First edition of this rare history of Normandy by the priest and historian Louis de Masseville (1647–1733), containing at the end of each volume a detailed table of contents, a list of places and families in Normandy, and a bibliography. The sixth volume, published in 1704, is missing. [Brunet, III, 1519 – Frère, Bibliographe Normand, II, 288]. A large engraved heraldic bookplate placed opposite the title page of the first volume, bearing the coat of arms of Pierre Jean Charles de La Blandinière (c. 1671–1739) and the motto “Virtuti et Honori.” A native of Rouen, this brilliant officer served as Squadron Commander and Director of the Navy’s Map and Plan Repository under Louis XV. A handwritten bookplate from the “de Lion” period on the title pages of volumes 2 through 5, supplemented by an old handwritten label at the bottom of the errata page in volume 2 bearing the inscription: “Mr. de Lion B. Racine.” A beautiful set, attractively bound in identical bindings.