[GREEK - BINDING] New Testament (In Greek). Paris, Imprimeri - Lot 32

[GREEK - BINDING] New Testament (In Greek). Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1642. 1 vol. in-folio (435 x 281 mm). Binding circa 1710 in full red morocco, right-hand border composed of a repetition of irons in parentheses evoking a braid or cordage, enhanced with fleur-de-lis and crowned fleurs-de-lis at the corners, This braid is bordered on both sides by double fillets, pearl fillet and lace of foliate irons, with the coat of arms of Louis XIV in the center, spine decorated with crowned fleurs-de-lis and small corner irons, lace roulette inside and on the edges, gilt edges. Title-frontispiece designed and engraved by Claude Mellan, 21 copper-engraved bands, 21 lettrines and 11 culs-de-lampe. A typographical masterpiece executed under the direction of Sébastien Cramoisy, according to Didot "the greatest publisher of Greek, Latin and French books of his time", who in 1640 became director of the first Imprimerie royale, located in the Palais du Louvre. This splendid edition, which bears a small coat-of-arms of Richelieu on its last cul-de-lampe, bearing the arms of Louis XIII, is sometimes referred to as the Mazarin edition, since he had just succeeded the late Cardinal de Richelieu, who died on December 4, 1642. Binding attributable to Luc-Antoine Boyet, executed circa 1710. It features the royal oak-leaf wreath designed by him for works from the Imprimerie Royale between 1704 and 1723, and the rich braided border with crowned fleurs-de-lis, which are struck eight times on the spine. Note the fine combed endpapers, applied to the flyleaf only, as was customary in the previous century. Darlow Moule II, p. 609. Minor browning and spotting. Spine soiled, accidents to headpieces, slight rubbing to corners.