de Ville-Hardouin, Geoffroi; de Wailly, M. Natalis (Translator)

[Crusades] Conquete de Constantinople; Avec la Continuation de Henri de Valenciennes: Texte Original, Accompagne d'une Traduction

Paris: Librairie de Firmin-Didot Freres, Fils et Cie, 1874. Second Edition. Hardcover. Quarto size, 640 pp., text in French. Very Good. Item #15101601

The best known work by knight and historian Geoffroi de Ville-Hardouin (c. 1150-c.1213/18), written between 1207 and 1213. This work is one of the oldest known examples of historical French prose, and though not written from an entirely objective point of view, is an essential historical text, by a contemporaneous participant of the Fourth Crusade. The text is presented in both the original 13th-century French accompanied by a more modern French translation.

___DESCRIPTION: Contemporaneous half red morocco with marbled paper covered boards, backstrip with five raised bands stamped in gilt to each panel, top edge gilt, decorative endpapers of black with repearting gold lion designs and two different roundels (one of men on a ship, from a miniature from "l'Histoire des Croisades" de Guillaume de Tyr, from a 13th-century manuscript; the second of a man on horseback (likely the seal of Geoffroi de Ville-Hardouin) ), frontis of "La Basilique de Saint-Marc" in colour with captioned tissue guard, title page in red and black, decorative headpieces and tailpieces, floriated initials, some illustrations in text, three-panel fold-out map at the rear; quarto size (11" by 7.75"), pagination: [i-vi] [i] ii-xxiv, [1-3] 4-616, second edition.

___CONDITION: A very good copy, internally bright with very minimal foxing, no prior owner markings, the frontis plate and map are clean and bright, gilt is still bright, text block is straight and square, covers are clean; with some rubbing and chipping at joints and edges with a small chip out of the head of the spine, front hinge cracked but the board solid, rear hinge just starting corners slightly bumped with some rubbing; overall a very good copy of an important historical perspective on the Crusades.

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Price: $125.00