Rare books, manuscripts and ephemera from five centuries

A bourgeois Provençal decorates his copy-book 

 

BARTHELEMY, Estienne. LIVRE DES COMPTES Commencé par Moy Estienne Barthelemy De ce lieu de Fuveau; Sous la Conduite Du Sr. Noel Isnard Regent Des Ecoles Du dit Lieu. Ce Premier Octobre l’an de Grace 1751. Fuveau:, 1751-1752. £3,650

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MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER. Folio, 250x285mm, pp. [ii], 42, [2] blank, 43-105, [1] blank, ff. 106-316, [8]; in black ink (alternating with red in headings) in a single neat hand, with numerous hand-coloured engravings pasted in throughout until f. 197; some light foxing, mainly marginal, offsetting from coloured engravings throughout, a few ink blots from f. 167ff, small marginal wormhole to edge of last ten leaves, not affecting text, and some light dustsoiling throughout in contemporary calf, spine in compartments with floral motifs and title in gilt, all edges red; joints and corners repaird, some light rubbing to extremities and the odd nick to boards, but still an attractive volume.

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A lovely example of a unusually decorative mid-eighteenth century arithmetical copy-book, in which the pupil, in this case the son of a prosperous Provence family, sets out in fair form the course of mathematics laid out by his teacher with explanations of the principles underlying each operation, and numerous examples demonstrating their use.

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As befits someone of the merchant class, although the basics of arithmetic are covered, much of the course is practical, with a focus on weights and measures, and much to do with currency calculations and the working out of interest; throughout, the rules are explained and then followed by a range of problems, their solutions, and, importantly, the workings and methods for finding the solutions. The compiler, Estienne Barthélemy, started his course on October 1, 1751, and concluded it, as the final leaf tells us, on February 4, 1752, under the tutelage of Noël Isnard, regent of the schools at Fuveau, south-east of Aix-en-Provence, where the Barthélemy family lived. The family was a prominent one in the village, making their money principally from mining interests, but the name is now most associated with the painter Niollon Barthélemy (1849-1927), who lends his name to one of the principal streets of Fuveau.

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This copy-book is distinguished most by the array of engravings, hand-coloured by the owner and pasted in, which decorate the first half of the volume. Illustrating, or rather adorning (there is no point of contact between the embellishments and the subject of the text) copy-books was not uncommon, but we have not seen many examples where so many engravings have been applied, mainly to the margins, and coloured. These were sold commercially by the likes of Engelbrecht in Augsburg (who we suspect to be the designer of these) and depict pastoral and mythological scenes, animals and flowers, biblical stories, games, hunting, and even architectural views and formal gardens; in all there are over 160, although Estienne appears to have either lost enthusiasm or been discouraged by his teacher by half way through his course, as although the quality of the presentation does not waver, the illustrations peter out at f.196. 

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