Claudianus, Opera, Lyon, 1548, contemporary French calf gilt

CLAUDIANUS, CLAUDIUS. Cl. Claudiani poetae celeberrimi opera. Quorum catalogum, post eius vitam ex Petro Crinito ac Volaterrano reperies. Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1548

The Greek monogram ια and the motto “Susque deque” (up and down) appear on a group of five (plausibly Lyonese) bindings, all printed by Gryphe in Lyon in the 1540s, though tooled to different designs. It was suggested optimistically that the letters IA could refer to Jacques Amyot (1513-1593), classical scholar and bishop. On his death his library numbered 164 volumes, but none of these five titles appear in that list, which is more theological in nature, as befitting his later career in the Church.

16mo (123 x 70 mm). Italic type, 29 lines plus headline. Collation: a-z⁸: 184 leaves. Woodcut printer’s device on title-page, woodcut initials, ruled in red, manuscript notes in French on front flyleaf dated 1618. (Occasional light damp-staining.)

Binding: Contemporary French calf gilt (126 x 76 mm), monogram ια above and below the lettering SUSQZ [i.e. susque] DEQUE at centre of covers within a frame of gilt lozenges, leafy corner decoration, monogram repeated in spine compartments, gilt edges, stubs from two pairs of ties. (Repairs to spine and joints, extremities slightly rubbed, endleaves slightly soiled.)

Provenance: Cistercian monastery of St Bernard, Fontaine-lès-Dijon, inscription on title-page — Librairie Théophile Bélin, Livres des XVe et XVI e siècles dans leurs reliures originales (Paris, 1914), item 97 — Mme Théophile Bélin, sale, René Boisgirard & Louis Giraud-Badin, Paris, 19-20 February 1936, lot 44 — Henri Burton (1896-1968), sale, Christie’s, New York, 22 April 1994, part of lot 94. Acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. References: USTC 157789; von Gültlingen V: Gryphe 1029