CARPENTIER, Jean-Baptiste le.
Histoire généalogique de la noblesse des Païs-Bas, ou histoire de Cambray, et du Cambresis, contenant ce qui sy est passé sous les empereurs, & les rois de France & dEspagne ...
Leiden, for the author, 1668 (part titles: 1663-1664). 4 parts in 2 volumes. 4to. With the general title of both volumes printed in red and black, with a hand coloured coat of arms on the verso, a large folding engraved map of North-West France, a hand coloured large folding plate of Cambrai nobles with their coats of arms, and 27 hand coloured coats of arms of 21 families (22 full-page, 5 half-page). 18th-century gold-tooled marbled polished calf. [16], 534; 344, [1], [1 blank]; [2], 345-1110; 99, [25] pp.
€ 2,500
Exceptionally rare complete second issue of a historical and genealogical work on the history and noble families of the region around the city Cambrai (Kamerijk) in North-western France (Nord and Pas-de-Calais), beautifully bound in marbled calf and with hand coloured plates. The work is rarely found complete, but the present copy is in fact overcomplete. It not only includes the often missing map and folding plate, but also six extra plates, and the two additions (pp. 1097-1110) that were specifically printed for the second issue, but often lacking.
The work gives a history of the city of Cambrai, with hand coloured plates with the coat of arms of the noble families of the region, bound in alphabetical order. It also include a large map of the Cambrai region, and a large plate of the states general of the prince-bishopry of Cambrai in session, which is the only known print by Cornelius van Bellekin (17th century), who was usually a painter and engraver of mother-of-pearl. The work was first published in 1663-1664 in Leiden with a slightly different title: Histoire généalogique des Païs-Bas, ou histoire de Cambraay, et du Cambresis, and without the coats of arms. The general title of the first volume of the present copy mentions the date 1668, but the part titles and the general title to the second volume mention the earlier dates, indicating that the second issue was, at least partly, made up from left over stock from the first issue.
The edges of the boards are very slightly scuffed. Remnants of a bookplate on the front pastedown of both volumes, a manuscript description of the work tipped onto the back pastedown of the first volume, the leaves are somewhat browned, a small tear in the large folding plate, occasional small tears in the margins, several leaves in the second volume with small wormholes in the lower margin. Otherwise in very good condition. Brunet, III, col. 912 ("ouvrage estimé, mais que lon trouve rarement complet"); Haitsma Mulier/Van der Lem, no. 101; Saffroy, III, 22288; cf. Van der Aa, III, p. 205; Biogr. Nat., XI, pp. 569-572; DBF, VII, p. 1213; this ed. not in the STCN; USTC.
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