10 - BOUCHARD (Alain). The Great Chronicles of Britain, newly printed in Paris, covering both Great Britain from the time of King Brutus—who conquered it and named it Britain—until the time of Cadualadrus, the last Breton king of that Great Britain... as well as of our present-day Brittany, from the conquest by King Conan Meriadec the Breton—which was then called the Kingdom of Darmorica—up to the time and death of François II of that name, Duke of Brittany. Printed in Paris at the expense, expenses and arrangements by Galliot du Pré. Printed in Paris by Jehan de la Roche for Galliot du Pré, publisher and printer, on November 25, 1514. In-4, Gothic style, blue morocco, decorated ribbed spine, perforated on the covers, lined with red morocco, perforated, edges gilt. (Chambolle-Duru).

BOUCHARD (Alain). The Great Chronicles of Britain, newly printed in Paris, covering both Great Britain from the time of King Brutus—who conquered it and named it Britain—until the time of Cadualadrus, the last Breton king of that Great Britain... as well as of our present-day Brittany, from the conquest by King Conan Meriadec the Breton—which was then called the Kingdom of Darmorica—up to the time and death of François II of that name, Duke of Brittany. Printed in Paris at the expense, expenses and arrangements by Galliot du Pré. Printed in Paris by Jehan de la Roche for Galliot du Pré, publisher and printer, on November 25, 1514. In-4, Gothic style, blue morocco, decorated ribbed spine, perforated on the covers, lined with red morocco, perforated, edges gilt. (Chambolle-Duru). FIRST AND PRECIOUS EDITION of the chronicles of Alain Bouchard, the first major and serious work written about Brittany. Secretary to François II, Duke of Brittany, before becoming secretary to the King of France, and a close associate of Queen Anne of Brittany, the Breton chronicler is believed to have come from the minor nobility of the Guérande peninsula. We trace the jurist’s career at the ducal chancellery (1485) before finding him in Paris, where he followed Anne of Brittany (1491). As an advisor to the king (1494), he returned briefly to Nantes after the death of Charles VIII. A few years later, he reappeared in Paris as a lawyer in Parliament. Historically, his chronicles were written during a crucial political and historiographical period. Bouchart, whose writings were widely circulated thanks to the very recent invention of the printing press, sought to strengthen Breton national sentiment at the very moment when Brittany’s gradual incorporation into the Kingdom of France seemed inevitable. With great skill, Bouchart compiled the works of his predecessors and composed a highly successful universal chronicle, as evidenced by the fact that it was reprinted five times between 1514 and 1541! A VERY BEAUTIFUL COPY, complete with all the illustrations, notably the one depicting Saint Yves. It comes from the library of Baron Jérôme Pichon (1897 auction, Cat. No. 1400) and is bound in a rich, lined binding, decorated both inside and out with lace, the metal clasps of which were engraved for the exclusive use of this famous bibliophile. It subsequently passed into the Ed. Rahir library (2nd sale, lot 422). A *Genealogy of the Kings of Great Britain and Little Britain*, consisting of 8 handwritten folios from the early 16th century, was bound at the end.