1685 Second Edtn 8 Tomes in 6 Volumes HISTOIRE DE CONSTANTINOPLE By Louis Cousin

1685 Second Edition 8 Tomes in 6 Volumes

HISTOIRE DE CONSTANTINOPLE
By Louis Cousin

KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Vellum, duodecimo or twelvemo (12mo 5 × 7 3⁄8 in 127 × 187 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: Suivant la copie imprimée à Paris, chez Damien Foucault, 1685; Dutch issue, probably Amsterdam, 1685
Language: French
Collation: Eight tomes complete:; Tome I: 644 pp. + preliminaries and tables; Tome II: 559 pp. + tables; Tome III: 598 pp. + tables
Dust Jacket: None, as issued, No Jacket
SKU: BTETM0002375
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 35, L: 35, W: 35 (Units: cm), W: 5Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request

DESCRIPTION
Histoire de Constantinople
depuis le règne de l'Ancien Justin, jusqu'a la fin de l'Empire, Traduite sur les originaux Grecs par Mr Cousin, President en la Cour des Monnoies. De'die'e A Monseigneur de Pompone, Secretaire d'Etat. Eight Tomes Complete, Bound in Six Contemporary Vellum Volumes A complete and appealing seventeenth-century edition of Louis Cousin's important French collection of the Byzantine historians, presenting in translation a continuous history of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire from the reign of Justin I through its later centuries and eventual fall. First published at Paris in eight quarto volumes between 1672 and 1674, Cousin's Histoire de Constantinople brought together French translations and abridgements of many of the principal Greek narrative sources for Byzantine history. This more compact second edition of 1685 made the collection considerably more accessible and was itself issued in a number of different binding configurations. The present copy contains all eight tomes, complete, bound contemporaneously in six physical volumes: Tome I; Tomes II–III; Tomes IV–V; Tome VI; Tome VII; and Tome VIII. The work incorporates the histories of Procopius of Caesarea, Agathias, Menander Protector, Theophylact Simocatta, Nikephoros, Leo the Grammarian, Nikephoros Bryennios, Anna Komnene, Niketas Choniates, George Pachymeres, John Kantakouzenos and Doukas, among others. Together they provide one of the great narrative sequences of Byzantine history, encompassing the age of Justinian, imperial wars and theological disputes, the Komnenian dynasty, encounters with Crusaders and neighbouring powers, civil wars, the rise of the Ottoman Turks and the final period of Constantinople. The edition is illustrated with an engraved additional pictorial title to Tome I, engraved head- and tail-pieces and title-page devices, all present in this copy. The engraved additional title provides a particularly striking visual interpretation of Constantinople and the conflict between Christian Byzantium and the Ottoman world. The title pages bear the wording “Suivant la Copie imprimée” together with the armillary-sphere device associated bibliographically with the Dutch issue of the edition. Although the printed imprint reads Paris, Chez Damien Foucault, bibliographical authorities identify this form as a Dutch printing, probably Amsterdam; the Sowerby catalogue tentatively associates the device with the officine of Wolfgang.

CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
A complete and attractive seventeenth-century set in contemporary vellum, comprising all eight tomes bound in six physical volumes. Vellum bindings with expected age-related rubbing, surface marking, dust-soiling and scattered small stains. Contemporary or early manuscript title and tome identification to the spines, retaining considerable period character. Remnant of an old paper shelf label to the spine containing Tomes II–III. Corners and extremities with modest wear consistent with age. Internally, the set presents well, with occasional minor toning, spotting, handling marks and small stains. Old manuscript and pencil shelf or ownership annotations are present to some endpapers. Title pages remain clear and well preserved. Complete. All eight tomes present and all called-for engraved material present, including the engraved additional title to Tome I, title-page devices and engraved head- and tail-pieces. A pleasing, substantially unrestored example of an important seventeenth-century collection of Byzantine historical sources, retaining its coherent contemporary vellum bindings. Bibliographical Note The first edition appeared at Paris in eight quarto volumes between 1672 and 1674. The present 1685 second edition is the more compact form of Cousin's abridged French rendering of the Corpus Byzantinae Historiae. Atabey records the second edition, while contemporary and modern bibliographies commonly describe copies in 12mo. Of particular interest, Thomas Jefferson owned an example of this same 1685 edition/issue. The Sowerby catalogue of Jefferson's library records eight volumes in 12mo, the engraved frontispiece and vignette headpieces, and notes the armillary-sphere printer's device used by Wolfgang of Amsterdam. This is an association with the edition only; the present copy has no Jefferson provenance. Please see Photos as part of condition report.

REFERENCES
Atabey 295 Graesse II, 288 Ebert 5363 Sowerby 95 / Jefferson Library, J.96 Catalogue collectif de France (CCFr)

SYNOPSIS
Histoire de Constantinople is less a single-author history than an extensive French library of Byzantine historical writing arranged to create a broad narrative of the Eastern Roman Empire. Beginning with the reign of Justin I in the early sixth century, the collection moves through the age of Justinian and the campaigns recorded by Procopius, later imperial and ecclesiastical conflicts, dynastic struggles, relations with Persians, Arabs, Bulgarians, Crusaders and other neighbouring powers, and the political and military crises of the later Byzantine centuries. Among the principal authors represented are Procopius of Caesarea, Agathias, Menander, Theophylact Simocatta, Nikephoros, Leo the Grammarian, Nikephoros Bryennios, Anna Komnene, Niketas Choniates, George Pachymeres, John Kantakouzenos and Doukas. The result is a remarkable seventeenth-century French gateway to the principal narrative sources of Byzantine history, carrying the reader from the age of Justin and Justinian through the Komnenian and Palaiologan periods and towards the end of the Byzantine Empire.

AUTHOR BIO
Louis Cousin (21 August 1627 – 26 February 1707) was a French historian, translator, lawyer, royal censor and President of the Cour des Monnaies. Cousin devoted a substantial part of his scholarly career to making Greek and Byzantine historical writing available to a French readership. His translations of Byzantine historians and of Eusebius of Caesarea became important vehicles through which seventeenth- and eighteenth-century readers encountered the historical sources of the Eastern Roman Empire. He was elected to the Académie française in 1697, occupying seat 3, and was also associated with the learned periodical Journal des sçavans. His Histoire de Constantinople remains his most substantial contribution to Byzantine historical studies.