EX-LIBRIS -SALVAING de BOISSIEU (Denys de Salvaing de Boissi - Lot 89

EX-LIBRIS -SALVAING de BOISSIEU (Denys de Salvaing de Boissieu, 1600-1683, President of the Chambre des Comptes du Dauphiné, great scholar and enlightened bibliophile) / " Aymon de Salvaing Seigneur de Boissieu, surnommé le Chevalier-Hardy, 1505" - This is one of the rarest 17th-century bookplates in existence, and the present piece has a history, since it was described in January 1898 by its then owner, the bookseller and bibliophile Anatole Claudin (1833-1906), in "Archives du Bibliophile" (p. 58): "Magnificent heraldic piece, engraved in the 17th century, depicting Aymon de Salvaing on horseback, armed from head to foot, brandishing his sword, with the double-headed eagle on the crest of his helmet and on his breastplate, his coat of arms on a sheet embroidered with fleurs-de-lis hanging from the horse's head and on a falling blanket covering his body; a broken spear on the ground and a fleur-de-lis handlebar. One of the finest ex-libris known, in-fol, the engraving fillet frame, not including the engraved inscription reported above, measures 249 millim. high by 212 millim. wide" - M. Claudin continues: "This remarkable ex-libris comes from the library of Salvaing de Boissieu, President of the Parliament of Dauphiné, formed at the beginning of the 17th century and which was dispersed a few months ago in Genoble. This large-format piece was only glued to a few volumes. No more than 20 to 25 proofs exist; most of the volumes to which this magnificent ex-libris was added having been acquired by amateurs, so that we can be certain that this piece will always be sought-after and will retain, in addition to its artistic value, the merit of a definite rarity" - This is therefore the oldest of Denys de Salvaing's 3 ex-libris, the one known as "au chevalier", and we know its exact origin: this plate was engraved in 1644 for Marc de Vulson de la Colombière's "La Science héroïque", and President de Salvaing had it specially printed in memory of his ancestor Chevalier-Hardy, who is said to have been a cousin and comrade-in-arms of the Chevalier Bayard - This present bookplate is part of the collection of Docteur Olivier (hinged, unglued, on large bristol, 24 x 31 cm), Docteur Olivier noted "Pièce rarissime, dont on connait que quelques exemplaires - Des collections Claudin et de Crauzat".