Histoire du noble Tristan, Prince de Leonnois, Chevalier de la Table Ronde, et d’Yseulte, Princesse d’Yrlande, Royne de Cornoüaille.
Paris: Par Nicolas Bonfons, rue neuve nostre Dame a l’enseigne Sainct Nicolas. 1586. Small 4to, A-Z, Aa-Zz, AA4, [2], 184 leaves, (recte 186, ffs 95-186 incorrectly numbered 93-184) title-page with a woodcut of knights jousting and a similar size battle scene on verso, text in two columns, small decorated initials, 19c. plain green morocco, titled direct to spine in gilt, a.e.g. a good clean copy.
A sixteenth century recension by Jean Maugin of the famous 12th century romance of Tristan and Isolde. The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and by the early 13th century Tristan has become an established member of Arthur’s Round Table. The story has had a substantial impact on Western art and literature.
It is a rare book. OCLC locates six copies, viz. UC Berkeley, Library of Congress, Univ Chicago, Dartmouth Coll., Cleveland Pub. Lib., and Keio Univ., to which can be added Biblioteque nationale de France (3copies), Draguignan, and the only copy located by COPAC at the Bodleian, Oxford. I confess that verifying the existence, in situ, of some of these copies has sorely tried my patience. It is even rarer in the market.
OCLC 7059890 Brunet V. 957
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