35 - [HISTORY & BIBLIOPHILIA - BRUGES] - [VAN PRAET, Joseph-Basile-Bernard]

[HISTORY & BIBLIOPHILIA - BRUGES] - [VAN PRAET, Joseph-Basile-Bernard] "Research on Louis de Bruges, Lord of Gruthuyse; followed by a catalog of the manuscripts that belonged to him, most of which are preserved in the King’s Library" Paris, De Bure Frères, 1831 In-4°. Contemporary brown half-calf binding signed "Bradel" in Paris, with the bookbinder’s label affixed. Spine with 5 decorated raised bands, blind-stamped decoration between the bands, and ornate, gilt headpieces. Title (with a typographical error) gilt. Corner caps damaged, spine split, and normal wear and tear. Foxing. First edition of this masterpiece of 19th-century scientific bibliography. A native of Bruges who became the chief curator of the printed works department at the King’s Library in Paris, Joseph Van Praet (1754–1837) devotes this seminal monograph to Louis of Bruges, Lord of Gruuthuse (1422–1492). This exceptional diplomat, a high-ranking officer of the Burgundian state and a Knight of the Golden Fleece, was one of the greatest patrons and bibliophiles of the Renaissance. On a par with the Dukes of Burgundy, he assembled a sumptuous collection of illuminated manuscripts on parchment, later inherited by King Louis XII of France. Van Praet provides an absolutely precise descriptive and historical inventory of this princely collection, identifying the codices preserved in the royal collections. The book is illustrated with 5 separate plates, featuring superb engraved facsimiles reproducing the ancient scripts, miniatures, and heraldic ownership marks of the great Flemish lord. An indispensable milestone in the history of libraries and Flemish illumination. References: Brunet, IV, 856; Peignot, Répertoire de bibliographies, p. 114. Provenance: from the library of Philippe Kervyn of Volkaersbeke (bookplate)