BROCHARD, Michel
Musæum selectum
Paris, Gabriel Martin, 1729£450.00
8vo, pp. xvi, 325, (xlv). Roman letter, some Italic. Decorative head and tailpieces and initials, comprehensively priced in contemporary hand. Light age yellowing, very occasional spotting, minor repair to three leaves. Contemporary quarter calf, spine gilt, rebacked and remounted, red morocco label, early blue boards, original satin page marker, aer; corners rubbed. Armorial bookplates of James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847-1913, bibliophile) and of celebrated bibliographer Anthony Hobson inside front cover.
Gabriel Martin (1679-1761) was a Parisian printer, ‘qui, le premier en France, après Prosper Marchand, se livra avec succès à la rédaction des catalogues de livres à vendre, et sut la porter à un degré de perfection difficile à surpasser.’ He published nearly 150 such catalogues, of which 22 included comprehensive indexes; this is one of them. The meticulously subdivided catalogue is supplemented by a useful author index of 38 pages and a list of Dauphins. Brochard (d.c.1729), a professor of humanities at the Collège Mazarin, ‘avoit formé un des plus riches cabinets de livres qu’il y eût à Paris’, which he catalogued himself. It was particularly rich in historical and humanistic works, and is also noteworthy for the number of medieval MSS and incunables. Martin published Brochard’s catalogue after his death with a view to the collection’s sale, adding the index, lots numbers and subject divisions; it comprised of 3034 lots.
Brunet III, 1497; Bulletin du Bibliophile, no.13 Jan. 1846, p.1067