Lot 47: With the arms of Nicolas Fouquet, a squirrel rampant

[ARMORIAL BINDING - NICOLAS FOUQUET]

GOLDASTI, MELCHIOR HAIMINSFELDII. Svevicarum rerum scriptores aliquot... Frankfurt: Wolgang Richter, 1605. First edition. Contemporary polished calf, gilt-stamped armorial of Nicholas Fouquet to boards, gilt spine, all edges stained red. 8 x 6 inches (20 x 15.5 cm), [1]-317 pp., [31] pp. index at rear. Rubbing and wear to spine end extremities, joints starting, cords showing at front joint, spine expertly rebacked, a few spots of soiling and wear to rear board, contents unevenly browned and spotted, ink annotation "Collegii. Paris. Societ. Jesu" on the title, altogether a sound and attractive binding.

Nicholas Fouquet (1615-1680), the superintendent of finances under Louis XIV, built one of the greatest libraries in seventeenth-century France, second only to that of Cardinal Mazarin in terms of its size and scope. However, while Mazarin's library remains intact today, Fouquet's books were dispersed soon after he fell from power. He was tried and imprisoned by the king and his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert in 1661 and remained incarcerated until he died in 1680. Two types of books bear Fouquet's armorial - those from his personal library, and those that he gave to the Collège des Jésuites in Paris. This book is from the latter group, as is evidenced by the Jesuit order's "IHS" gilt-stamp on the spine, and the annotation on the title page. This book is also gilt-stamped with Fouquet's "chiffre de bibliophile," the Greek letter Phi doubled and interlaced, on the spine, and it bears his armorial, a squirrel rampant à senestre.