Unique Collection of 16th Century French Poetry to Auction

Five years after the inaugural sale, the fourth and final The Poetic Library of Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller will be held in Christie's Paris on March 24, nearly five years to the day after first auction which was marked by two pre-emptions by the Bibliothèque nationale de  France. 

The collection is regarded as the most scholarly and comprehensive assembled for French  poets of the second half of the 16th century, particularly Pierre de Ronsard and his fellow members of the Pléiade. Encompassing nearly 1,000 works and gathered over more than half a  century, it was brought together by Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller (1930-2016).

“I claim the merit of having pursued to the very end, driven by the same flame, each of the  ventures I began," he said. "Since books are the subject here, let us simply say that a book acquired  yesterday or the day before brings me a joy as keen as the one I felt more than half a century ago.”

The La bibliothèque poétique de Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller sale includes nearly 25 works by Ronsard. Two copies of his Oeuvres are among the highlights, including the first collected edition of 1560 of which only two copies are known (estimate: €180,000–€250,000). Also going under the hammer is a 1572 first edition that once belonged to the publisher and bibliophile Ambroise Firmin-Didot, containing a major unfinished epic poem by Ronsard, Les quatre premiers livres de la Franciade (estimate: €50,000–€70,000). A rare autograph letter by Ronsard dated November 23, 1584 (estimate: €50,000 –€70,000) and an edition of La Muse Folastre, the only known copy of this anthology published in Tours in 1600 (estimate: €8,000 – €12,000) are included in the sale too.

Some copies in the collection originate from royal libraries. A copy of Poemata by Scévole de Sainte Marthe, offered to Henri III (estimate: €12,000–€18,000) also contains a verse treatise on childcare, while one of the leading French Baroque poets, Philippe Desportes' copy of his Premières Oeuvres is bound in red morocco with the arms of Louis XIV (estimate: €2,000–€3,000).

Other highlights include a copy of the Oeuvres of the Lyonnaise poet Louise Labé (estimate: €50,000–€70,000) with a lavish doublure binding by Joseph Thouvenin (1790 –1834) commissioned by writer, bibliophile and urator at the Arsenal Library, Charles Nodier, and work from the Minories poets Madeleine Neveu and Catherine Fradonnet, the Oeuvres of 1579 (estimate: €4,000–€5,000) and the first edition of the Secondes oeuvres of 1583 (estimate: €2,000–€3,000).