Estienne, Le herbe, fiori, stirpi [and other works], Venice, 1545, Venetian green morocco by the Fugger Binder for Cardinal Perrenot de Granvelle

3 works in one volume, 8vo (165 x 106 mm). Each volume in Italic type, 30 lines plus headline. collation: a-i⁸ (i7-8 blank): 72 leaves; a-h⁸ i¹⁰: 74 leaves; (3) a-g⁸ (g8 blank): 56 leaves. Title-page and verso of final text leaf with woodcut device in each work. (Some worming at upper margin, light marginal dampstaining, front free endpaper remargined.)

binding: Venetian olive green morocco (now faded to brown) (171 x 115 mm), by the Fugger Binder for Granvelle (Piquard's Type A), richly silvered now tarnished, multiple rectangular borders formed by silvered and blind fillets, frame composed of two interlaced ribbons formed by a double fillet containing leaf tool, flame tool and ivy leaf tool at angles inside the frame, large arabesque corner pieces, undulating lozenge formed by single fillet containing large leafy finials, oval formed by large solid leafy tools, apple tool and small stars at each side, traces of 4 pairs of blue and white alternating ties, spine with 3 full and 4 half bands, edges silvered now tarnished, blue title label painted across edges between ties, 4-line title lettered in gold “LE HERBE / PLANTO / ...NE GLI / HORTI”. (Spine ends expertly repaired, slight discolouration to upper cover.)

provenance: Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Bishop of Arras (later Cardinal de Granvelle) (1517-1586), with his armorial stamp on the verso of title-page, by descent to—Count de La Baume-Saint Amour, (d. 1707), who sold a large portion of Granvelle's library in 1664 to—Jean-Baptiste Boisot (1639-1694), Abbot of St-Vincent at Besanςon (with sixteenth- or seventeenth-century inventory numbers "56", "234", and "3291" at head of title, and strip at head of upper endleaf cut away, probably removing the ownership inscription of J.B. Boisot)—Bibl. Château Saint-Ylie, Jura, founded by Jean-Antoine de Tinseau (1745- 1782), Eveque de Belley et de Nevers, sale, Delbergue-Cormont & Adolphe Labitte, Paris, 3-25 November 1869, lot 1319—Roger Portalis (1841-1912), his sale, Maurice Delestre & Charles Porquet, Paris, 1-3 April 1889, lot 70—Arthur Lauria, Paris bookseller, 1930s, small circular stamp to upper pastedown—Maurice Burrus (1882-1959), by descent until sold, Christie's Paris, 15 December 2015, lot 85. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: (1) USTC 828446; Edit16 CNCE 18332; (2) USTC 828447; Edit16 CNCE 18333; (3) USTC 828448; Edit16 CNCE 18334; Alphonse de Ruble, Notice des principaux livres manuscrits et imprimés, qui ont fait partie de l'Exposition de l'art ancien au Trocadéro (Paris 1879), p. 92, no. 202