Books with Royal Bookplates

Louis the Grand Dauphine

Louis the Grand Dauphine (1661-1711) was the eldest son of Louis XIV, the father of Philip V of Spain, and Louis XV's grandfather. Louis the Grand Dauphine never became a king: from his birth to the death, he was the heir to the French throne. His father managed to outlive not only him (by four years), but also his grandson — Louis, the Duke of Burgundy (by three years).

1) Perrot d'Ablancourt, Nicolas (1606-1664).
Les apophtegmes des anciens, tirez de Plutarque, de Diogene Laerce, d'Elien, d'Athénée, de Stobée, de Macrobe, & de quelques autres. De la traduction de Nicolas Perrot, sieur d'Ablancourt. — A Paris : chez Thomas Iolly, 1664.

2) Frontinus, Sextus Julius (30-104).
Les stratagesmes de Frontin. De la traduction de Nicolas Perrot, sieur d'Ablancourt. Avec un petit traité De la bataille des Romains. — A Paris : chez Thomas Iolly, 1664.

12° (92 Ñ… 160 mm). A red marocain binding with gold embossing. Louis the Grand Dauphine's super ex libris — the Dauphine's coat of arms is placed on the front and back covers, the fleurs-de-lis and the crowned dolphin are on the spine (is established by: OHR, pl. 2522, no.6).

Shelf mark: 7.10.6.17-18

The red marocain-bound book carries the gold super ex libris of Dauphine, a heir apparent to the throne of France. The word "un dauphin" is French for "dolphin", so the coat of arms features four dolphins: two are depicted inside the shield and two are above the crown

The book consists of two previously independently published works by Sextus Julius Frontinus: the Apophtegms of the Ancients and the Stratagems, translated in French. The Apophtegms are the Greek word for aphorisms and entertaining anecdotes. Here is one of the examples of the apophtegma from the book, dedicated to the war of Alexander the Great with the Persian king Darius: "Memnon, General of Darius, hitting a soldier who spoke ill of Alexander, said: "I hired you to fight, but not scold".

The Stratagems is a collection of examples of war ruses from Greek and Roman history, written by the ancient Roman author, politician and militery commander Sextus Julius Frontinus who lived during the era of such eminent emperors as Caligula, Nero, Vespasian and Trajan. In his book, he compiled and arranged the methods of warfare, well-known in his time. The translator of these books is Nicolas Perrault d'Ablacourt (1606-1664), the most famous translator from Latin to French during the reign of Louis XIV. His translations were based on the principles of the classicism and was very different from the modern ones: for example, Perrault d'Ablancourt considered it necessary to change the vocabulary and syntax of the translated text in accordance with his ideas about the correctness of the style. That is why he earned the fame of a brilliant stylists of the French language, and Voltaire subsequently called him an elegant translator, each work of which is "an unfaithful beauty" (la belle infidèle).

Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne (1627-1704).

Politique tirée des propres paroles de l'Écriture sainte a Monseigneur le dauphin. Ouvrage posthume de Messire Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, evêque de Meaux, conseiller du roy en ses conseils, & ordinaire en son conseil d'etat, precepteur de Monseigneur le dauphin, premier aumônier de M. la dauphine, & de M. la duchesse de Bourgogne. — A Paris : chez Pierre Cot, 1709.

4° (217 Ñ… 290 mm). A red marocain binding with gold embossing. Louis the Grand Dauphine's super ex libris — the Dauphine's coat of arms is placed on the front and back covers, the fleurs-de-lis and the crowned dolphin are on the spine (is established by: OHR, pl. 2522, no.6).

Shelf mark: 15.51.7.39

The red marocain binding with Louis the Grand Dauphine's super ex libris the first edition of the Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture by the abbot of Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704), in which the famous French preacher and theologian declares the absolute authority of rulers and proves that royal authority comes directly from God. Bossuet was appointed tutor to the Dauphin and devoted himself to political and religious education of the son of Louis XIV. Later, the thinker's ideas were embraced in this book, which can be considered the quintessence of Bossuet's political and religious studies. It was published five years after his death.