LE LIEUR (Jacques). Le Livre enchaîné ou Livre des fontaines - Lot 558

LE LIEUR (Jacques). Le Livre enchaîné ou Livre des fontaines de Rouen, manuscript from the Rouen library 1524-1525 by Jacques LE LIEUR [...] published in full by Victor SANSON[...] I. Text. II. Planches. Rouen, Imprimerie Lucien Wolf, 1911. 2 vol. in-folio (51 x 41 cm for the vol. of text, 45.5 x 34.5 cm for the vol. of plates), red half-chagrin with corners, spines with 2 ornate nerves, fillets drilled on the boards, title of the original slipcases preserved. Reproduction of the Livre des Fontaines, colored by Saudé. Limited edition of 250 numbered and initialled copies, the one bearing no. 15. The text volume comprises 81 pp. and 14 hand-colored phototypeset plates on vellum, reproducing illuminated pages from the manuscript and 2 views of Rouen (the large-scale view of 1525 and its reproduction by Jolimont). The plate album includes 84 color plates (nos. 1 to 81, 49 bis, 53 bis, 55 bis) reproducing the fountain courtyards to scale, plus 2 unnumbered plates forming the assembly table. Notary and secretary to the King, alderman of the city of Rouen, Jacques LE LIEUR (c. 1480, c. 1550), was commissioned in 1519 to study the city's hydraulic network, and commissioned cartographic surveys of each of the city's three main water supplies. The result is an illuminated work accompanied by 3 strips of parchment, each several meters long. In addition to the course of the canals, the latter include faithful representations of the city's monuments and public buildings. The quality and historical interest of these parchments make them among the most important in Rouen's archives. Abbé Victor SANSON was honorary chaplain to the Metropolis of Rouen. Ex-libris JM on the flyleaves. A fine copy, including the large color view of Rouen that is almost always missing. Rarely bound.