1155 - BOCCACCIO, Giovanni *The Decameron* by Giovanni Boccaccio. London [i.e., Paris], n.p., 1757–1761, 5 vols., in-8°: viii–320, 292, 203, 280, 269 pp.; 116 pp. excluding title page (a few pinholes and slight foxing; plates 22 and 23 reversed in vol. II; slight, very marginal worm damage on the final leaves of vol. V). Raspberry-colored morocco in the 18th-century style, signed Smeers; triple gilt fillet encircling the covers; spine with gilt floral raised bands; double gilt fillet on the edges; gilt Gilded interior, gilded edges on marbled paper (a few minor scuffs on the caps; the upper edge of Vol. I is slightly cracked at the top). A very fine copy with wide margins. First edition of the translation by Antoine Le Maçon and the “Life of Boccaccio” by Ph. Math. Villani. Gravelot’s masterpiece and “one of the most successful illustrated books of the entire 18th century” (Cohen), published by the same publishers as the 1757 Italian edition, with the same illustrations: 1 portrait of Boccaccio (omitted by Cohen for the French edition), 5 frontispiece titles, and 110 plates (excluding title pages); 1 headpiece (vol. I) and 96 tailpieces (one fewer than in the Italian edition) by Gravelot, Boucher, Cochin, and Eisen, etched by Aliamet, Baquoy, Flipart, Le Mire, Tardieu, and others. Each “day” is preceded by an unsigned engraved cartouche, for a total of 110 gray-toned cartouches. A superb copy in a pastiche binding perfectly executed by Isidore Smeers (Leuven 1834–1896), a Belgian bookbinder in Paris where he was active between 1865 and 1890. Ref. Cohen 158–159. - Dubois d’Enghien 225–226. - Fléty 163. Initial “M” in an old hand (under the word “fin” in Vol. V). - Louis de Sadeleer (bookplate).