Receuil des plus belles pieces des Poetes françois depuis Villon jusqu'à Benserade. Tome Premier... [-Sixième]. Paris, Compagnie des Libraires, 1752.
Six volumes, small 12mo, pp. [xi], [i], 322; [ii], 314; [ii], 292; [ii], 312; [ii], 296; [ii], 260, [2] approbation, in contemporary mottled calf, blind rule to covers, flat spines elaborately gilt in compartments, red and black morocco labels lettered and numbered in gilt, with the contemporary bookplate of 'G.D.M.', a member of the Guillebon family, and the typographic booklabel of Madame Guillebon, la jeune, circa 1800: an excellent set with a nice provenance.
An excellent copy of this charming poetical miscellany, known as the 'Recueil de Barbin' and first published in 1692. It contains the major poems of Ronsard, Villon, Marot, du Bellay and Baïf, as well as a host of minor poems by these and numerous less well-known authors. This expanded version (the original was in five volumes) is one of two printings of the collection in the eighteenth century, both published in 1752, reflecting an interesting resurgence in the study of early French poetry. The miscellany is arranged in six volumes, by author, with a brief biographical notice on each poet. The biographies are ascribed to Fr. Barbin, son of Claude Barbin, the great bookseller who first published the collection. This copy has a good provenance, coming from the de Guillebon family, with contemporary heraldic bookplates and a later booklabel of Madame Guillebon, the younger, circa 1800.
'Une anthologie de la poésie française faite par les classiques éveille l'intérêt; de plus elle a connu un grand succès... On ne saurait exagérer son influence' (p. 109, _Dictionnaire des Lettres Françaises, Fayard, 1996).
Gay III 978.