[binding Aux Armes Jacques-auguste De Thou Theologie] Martyrologium Romanum. 1603.

BARONIO / BARONIUS (Caesare Sorano) - THOU (Jacques-Auguste de, binding with arms of). Martyrologium romanum [...]. Coloniae Agrippinae [Cologne / Koln], apud Joannem Gymnicum sub Monocerote, 1603. A strong flight. in pt in-4 format (210 x 164 mm) of 2 ff. bl., 3 ff. n.fol., xxxvi - 816 pp., 79 ff. n.fol. in fine and 2 ff. bl. Binding from the time of full icy blond sheepskin, large golden arms struck in the center of an oval on each of the dishes, back to nerves decorated with cold fatty fillets, golden net on the nerves, double golden framing boxes, which are decorated in their center with the golden figure of de Thou, the head and tail boxes are also occupied by a decoration of small oblique and vertical threads, golden heraldic bee struck in the upper box. Copy with the arms of alliance of Jacques-Auguste de Thou and his second wife Gasparde de La Châtre, struck in the center of each of the dishes. "De Thou had a magnificent library, an admirable collection". (in Brunet). '' Magistrate, statesman, jurist, historian, humanist and bibliophile, Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553-1617) is one of the most outstanding figures among the book collectors of his time. The scholarly and encyclopedic library which he had assembled in the collection of his father, Christophe de Thou, rich in about a thousand manuscripts and eight thousand printed volumes, remained without rival in Paris until the middle of the XVIIth century. A working tool for historians and jurists, its library was also open to scholars, humanists and students from France and abroad. Very demanding on the condition of his books, de Thou had them bound with the greatest care, first in vellum, then in red, lemon, green or purple morocco, of the finest quality, struck by his figure and his weapons. '' (Alde). Cardinal Baronius became general of the Oratory Congregation in Italy in 1593 and was chosen by Pope Clement VIII to be his confessor. In 1596 he was appointed Cardinal and curator of the Vatican library. An important figure in the Catholic Counter-Reformation, he almost became Pope twice ''. In addition to a title page embellished with a large engraved vignette, the book has a pretty frontispiece. Olivier, Hermal and Roton, Manual for the amateur of French armored bindings, pl. 216 - Brunet V, Manual of the bookseller and the amateur of books, 841. Some superficial alterations affecting the binding; although more marked on the second dish. Leaves sometimes oxidized. Presence of some freckles or small scattered stains in the body of the work. Very rare leaves are slightly frayed. Notwithstanding, good condition.