67 - DESMAZIÈRES (Érik) - BROWNE (Thomas).

DESMAZIÈRES (Érik) - BROWNE (Thomas). Musæum clausum or Bibliotheca Abscondita. [Paris]: Les Presses de Serendip, [2009]. — In-4, 264 x 190: (24 leaves; the first and last two blank), printed cover. Unbound, covered binding, publisher’s slipcase and dust jacket. First edition of the first French translation by Clarisse Barthélemy, annotated by Patrick Mauriès, of this text by Sir Thomas Browne, first published in 1684. “Preserved among Sir Thomas Browne’s manuscripts and published by Sir Geoffrey Keynes in his edition of the Complete Works in 1931, *Musaeum Clausum* combines wit with erudition by presenting a pseudo-catalog of a collection—or a cabinet of curiosities—that echoes that of Rabelais’s *Bibliothèque de Saint-Victor*. Delightful in its play of allusions and nods, this Borgesian text could find no better illustrator than that of *The Library of Babel*, who here displays all his graphic ingenuity and sense of the marvelous” (please insert). The edition is illustrated with four superb original etchings by Érik DESMAZIÈRES (born in 1948), including three full-page etchings and one spread. It is housed in a folder containing an original engraving by the artist, mounted on board, and a slipcase covered with specially lithographed paper. Limited edition of only 75 copies on Hahnemühle vellum paper, signed by the artist on the margin (no. 5). Copy in very good condition. Please insert the attached note.