VIE DES PERES en frãcois nouvellement imprimée a Paris.

Polain, Incunables des bibliothèques de Belgique, 4001.

Only known copy in private hands of the first edition published by Antoine Vérard. An exceptional copy printed on vellum and richly illuminated: rubricated in red and gold, ruled. The unique copy was coloured at the time, enhanced with gold, and specially illuminated in Verard’s worshop. It belonged to François Baraton, Grand Cupbearer to François I from 1516 to 1519.

It is illustrated in the text with three large compositions, 121 woodcut vignettes, several of which are repeated, some accompanied by one or two ornamental borders, all specially designed for this edition, and Antoine Vérard’s mark in the colophon.

Antoine Vérard produced only a very limited number of vellum copies (four or five), reserved for prestigious bibliophiles and intended to be personalised with rubrics and illuminations.

In the first part of our volume, most of the backgrounds, which are particularly well crafted, have been finely illuminated over the woodcuts, giving these engravings a quality similar to that of illuminations.

In the second part, we see a new focus on matching the images to the text: the vast majority of the woodcuts have been completely covered by a scene that has been redrawn and painted to correspond as closely as possible to the content.  The woodcut now plays only a framing role, the subject being entirely recomposed according to the text: Mary of Egypt, clothed only in her hair (f. g_vii verso) covers a woodcut illustrating a hermit dressed in a long tunic; the lamentation with three figures, a woodcut so often used in the edition, becomes in our copy an isolated monk, f. l_v recto.

Provenance: François Baraton, Grand Cupbearer to François I from 1516 to 1519, with his coat of arms painted at the time – 19th-century bookplate, with label for collection number, scratched – Rossignol (modern bookplate).