Gabriel Symeon - Les illustres observations antiques - 1558

(ARCHEOLOGY; CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY; ILLUSTRATED) GABRIEL SYMEON ( GABRIELE SIMEONI) (1509-1575)
Les Illustres Observations Antiques du Seigneur Gabriel Symeon Florentin . En son dernier voyage d'Italie l'an 1557 Lugduni, apud Joannem de Tournes, 1558.
§ 4to, (192 x 140); (16), 134 pp., sign. A-B4, a-r4 (lacks r4, blank). XVIIth century brown calf, labelled gilt title on decorated spine. Slight unobtrusive ink-stains at few pages. A fine and crisp copy. Ownership signature Mathon de La Cour and bookplate of Jacques Laget on pastedown.
FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH, after the original one in Italian, profusely illustrated with a great number of finely executed woodcuts by Bernard Salomon (called Le Petit Bernard), one of the most famous engraver of the Renaissance The author accompanied the Duc de Guise to his travels to the Provence and Italy. Upon his return he published this account on newly discovered Roman antiquities. Among the many descriptions and illustrations are: Acteon's metamorphosis, the Anet Fountain, a view of Fontaine de Vaucluse with Petrarca's house, the Roman calender. Little is known of the life of Bernard Salomon; painter, draftsman and engraver, he was active in the years 1540-1561 in Lyon, where he was the foremost designer for the publisher Jean de Tournes. Best known for his illustrations for a Bible and Ovid’s Metamorphosis, he also illustrated several works, such as emblem books, scientific and literary works. He was commissioned to provide decorations for Ippolito II d'Este in 1540, Henry II of France in 1548, and Jacques Dalbon, Seigneur de Saint Andre in 1550. Salomon's works were inspired by the elegant Mannerist art of the School of Fontainebleau. Dibdin wrote enthusiastically about Salomon Bernard.
A RARE ILLUSTRATED BOOK WITH A DISTINGUISHED PROVENANCE !
PROVENANCE: I - Mathon De La Cour, possibly Charles Joseph (1738-1793), also known as Fortuné Richard. Son of the mathematician Jacques Mathon de la Cour (1712–1777), Charles Joseph was an art critic and philantropist, member of ther Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts of Lyon; he died on the guillotine. II - Jacques Laget, XXth century ex libris, depicting two chamois and a mayfly.
Ref . ALEXANDRE PARNOTTE Simeoni, Gabriele In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani; T. F. DIBDIN The bibliographical Decameron vol. I, 1817, p. 181 à 185 (cited by NATALIS RONDOT Bernard Salomon : peinture et tailleur d'histoire à Lyon, au XVIe siècle Lyon: Mougin-Rusand, 1897).