DELEPIERRE, Octave. Vision de Tondalus; twelfth-century myst - Lot 186

DELEPIERRE, Octave. Vision de Tondalus; twelfth-century mystical tale, set in French for the first time. Very rare and beautiful edition of this twelfth-century mystical tale, translated into French for the first time by Octave Delepierre. Mons, Typographie de Hoyois-Derely, 1737. In-8, beige half-cornered vellum edged with gilt stippling, smooth spine decorated with gilt frieze and fillets, gilt title on black leather binding, gilt head. Later binding, signed Rivière. XXIII, 56 pages and 1 f.n.ch., title vignette, numerous engraved and ornamented headbands, lettering and tailpieces. Printed in black, red, green and blue, title printed in these four colors. Vellum slightly browned in places, very rare and very slight foxing. First French edition, translated by Octave Delepierre (1804-1875), of this very rare opuscule, printed in only 100 copies. Written in 1149 by Brother Marcus, the text describes the vision of a 12th-century Irish knight, narrating the journey of his soul, guided by an angel through the afterlife, while his body fell into unconsciousness. Beautiful letterpress printing in black, red, green and blue, embellished with various headbands, lettering and endpapers. The translator Octave Delepierre (1804-1875), a learned historian, publicist and bibliophile, was a pioneer in research on literary madmen, notably the author of the first Literary History of Madmen (London, 1860). [Caillet, I, 2927]. Handwritten bookplate dated 1833 on the title page. A fine copy, well established by Rivière.