VALLADIER, ANDRE. 1565-1638.


Labyrinthe Royal de l'Hercule Gaulois triumphant sur le suiect des Fortunes, Batailles, Victoires, Trophees, Mariages.... Avignon: Jacques Bramereau, [1600]. Large 4to (275 x 195 mm). Engraved title-page, 2 engraved portraits, and 12 engraved plates. Rebacked, preserving 18th-century calf and spine, gilt in 6 compartments, marbled endpapers. Top joint cracked, some dampstaining, browning.Provenance: Paul and Marianne Gourary (book label on front paste-down; their sale, Christie's N.Y., June 12, 2009, lot 25).Record of a spectacular celebration on the occasion of the marriage of Henry IV of France to his second wife Maria de Medici in 1600, produced by the Archbishop of Ancona and the College of the Jesuits of Avignon. The plates by Matthias Greuter vividly illustrate the festivities, including the Royal chariot drawn by elephants, and triumphal arches decorated with the labors of Hercules—a parallel designed to flatter Henry IV and cast him as a modern version of the classical Greek hero. Berlin Katalog 2988; Ruggieri 99; Vinet 480; Watanabe 1686.