Satyre Menippee de la vertu du catholicon d'Espagne, et de l - Lot 73

Satyre Menippee de la vertu du catholicon d'Espagne, et de la tenue des Estatz de Paris. S.l.n.n., 1593 [i.e.1594]. Small in-8, 255-(unblanche)pp. bradel of overlapping vellum, gilt edges (modern binding). Published shortly after the original. A rich and complex publishing history. A hand-written libelle circulated in Paris from March-April 1593, attributed to a single author, Pierre LeRoy, canon of the Sainte-Chapelle and chaplain to Cardinal de Bourbon, under the title L'Abbrégé et l'ame des Estatz convoquez à Paris en l'an 1593. It was not printed as such, but in a form expanded with new texts by various authors, in the spring of 1594, under the title La Vertu du catholicon d'Espagne, then rapidly in new editions under the title Satyre ménippée de la vertu du catholicon d'Espagne, et de la tenue des Estatz de Paris. A tradition dating back to Pierre Dupuy in the seventeenth century attributes the texts in this collection to Jacques Gillot, Florent Chrestien, Nicolas Rapin, Jean Passerat and Pierre Pithou, who are said to have worked on Pierre LeRoy's draft, but their respective contributions vary according to the source, although Pierre Pithou is acknowledged to have played the leading role. Successive editions in 1594 and 1595 were further enriched, but also modified in line with the political situation and the issues at stake. A famous Bourbon propaganda pamphlet, and a great literary text. Emanating from "political" circles, mainly Gallican Catholics, the Satyre ménippée offers a tragi-comic history of the League through a parody of the States. Superior to most political libels published at the time, this collective work displays high literary qualities, in a motley mix of verse and prose, narrative and rhetorical pieces, burlesque satire inspired by Italian comedy (where the Spanish-backed Ligueurs are presented as charlatans extolling the virtues of a miracle product called the "Spanish catholicon"). The role assigned to it by its authors was to support the person of Henry IV - rather than the French monarchy per se - first against the League, then against Spain's claims to Catholic universalism, and against the interference of the Papacy. The milieu in which the work was produced was also that for which it was intended: the literate bourgeoisie aspiring to nobility, concerned with historical accuracy and fond of bon mots. The ideology of the Bourbon Ancien Régime is largely the product of the ideological ferment of the decade 1585-1595, in which the Satyre ménippée played a major role: through its defense of the principles of order and political stability, and the wish it expressed for an absolute monarchy victorious over feudalism, it accompanied the advent of the modern centralized state. Provenance: "A.Boileau" (handwritten bookplate on title).