PARIS 1662 -- PERRAULT, Charles. Courses de Testes et de Bagues Faittes Par Le Roy et par Les Princes et Seigneurs de sa Cour, En l'Année 1662. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1670.

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PARIS 1662 -- PERRAULT, Charles. Courses de Testes et de Bagues Faittes Par Le Roy et par Les Princes et Seigneurs de sa Cour, En l'Année 1662. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1670.

2o (539 x 406 mm). Half-title. Engraved title-page and 96 engravings by ISRAEL SILVESTRE, FRANçOIS CHAUVEAU, and GILLES ROUSSELET after Silvestre and Chauveau, 12 head- and tail-pieces, and 7 engraved intitials (some occasional staining, a few minor repairs, one plate slightly cropped along top edge). (ff. 51 supplied from another copy.) 18th-century half morocco (some staining and wear, small area on front cover repaired with later paper). Provenance: library shelf label on front pastedown and small ink stamp on half-title.

Perrault describes the tournaments held in Paris in 1662 by LOUIS XIV, King of France, to demonstrate his military strength to his young son, LOUIS (1661-1711), the Grand Dauphin. The square in front of the Tuilleries was used to host the games in which five teams, or "quadrilles", representing the Romans (led by the King himself), the Persians, the Turks, the Indians and the American savages, challenged each other in a series of events including running at the ring and running at the head. The engravings illustrate scenes of the arena, individual members and supporters of the teams, and the teams' emblematic devices. Vinet 504; Watanabe 1908.

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