Lot n° 427
Estimation :
200 - 300
EUR
Collection of sonnets, composed by the most skillful poets o - Lot 427
Collection of sonnets, composed by the most skillful poets of the Kingdom on the Boutrimez Pan, Grenuche, &c. Suggested by Mr Mignon, Master of Music of the Church of Paris, to be filled to the lodge of His Majesty. In Paris, at Gabriel Quinet's house, 1683. In-12 of (4)-193-(3) pp., granite brown calf, spine decorated with nerves (contemporary binding). First edition of this collection of Bouts-rimez, published in honor of Louis XIV, collected by Jean Mignon, Master of Music in the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (1664-1694). Bouts-rimez, rhyming verse pieces, were very popular at the court and in the city from the mid 17th century. The French poet Dulot is said to have invented them (around 1648); the birth certificate is told by Ménage: "During a meeting [in the famous blue room of Arthénice in the Hôtel de Rambouillet], Dulot complained that some papers had been stolen from him, particularly three hundred sonnets, which he regretted more than the rest. Someone having testified to his surprise that he had made so many of them, he replied that they were blank sonnets, that is to say, bits and pieces of all the sonnets he wanted to fill in. This seemed pleasant, and since then they began to do, by a sort of game, in the companies, what Dulot was doing seriously. Even the gazettes got into the game and each month offered their subscribers the opportunity to compose them, tasks comparable to the crossword puzzles found in our newspapers. "It was a moment of fury of which it is impossible to give the slightest idea; serious people, famous poets, magistrates, scientists, openly indulged in these innocent little games. Literary societies, such as the one in Toulouse, whose members were called the Lanternists, chose a sonnet on a fixed date on which the king was praised; the victorious printer received a superb silver medal. As the fashion grew, the more the amateurs increased the difficulties of execution, seeking the most extravagant, the most unusual, the most ba
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue