[FOLENGO, Teofilo]. Histoire maccaronique de Merlin Coccaie, - Lot 94

[FOLENGO, Teofilo]. Histoire maccaronique de Merlin Coccaie, prototype de Rabelais [...] Plus l'horrible Bataille advenüe entre les Mouches & les Fourmis. A fine copy of this rare forgery of the first French edition of this masterpiece of Italian literature by Teofilo Folengo, creator of the macaronic genre and inspiration to Rabelais. Paris, Toussaincts du Bray, 1606 [1734]. 2 vols. in-12, brown speckled basane, guilloché ribbed spines, gilt fleuron and double gilt framing to entrenerfs, gilt title and tomaison on tan and burgundy leather, guilloché headpieces, scallop motif in triple gilt framing on covers, gold fillet on edges, red speckled edges. Contemporary binding. VIII and 370 pp. ; 419 pp. with title finial, bands and initials. Bindings very slightly rubbed, very rare foxing, some pages a little browned. Rare counterfeit published in 1734. One of the few copies bearing, on the title page, the date of the French original established in 1606 by an anonymous translator. This masterpiece of Italian literature, published in Venice in 1517 by Teofilo Folengo under the pseudonym "Merlino Coccaio, Baldus", is a blend of Latin, Italian and Mantuan dialect, recounting the adventures of the giant Fracasse and the deceitful Cingar. Its originality makes it the prototype for Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel. It is followed by L'Horrible bataille des mouches et des fourmis, a short poem by Folengo imitated from Homer's Batrachomyomachie. Complete in 2 volumes. A pleasant, well-bound copy.