[MONTREUX (Nicolas de)].

The Loves of Cleandre and Domiphille. By which is noticed the perfection of the virtue of Chastity. A book no less delectable than profitable to all true lovers of Chastity. All from the invention of Ollénix du Mont-Sacré. Paris, Veuve de Gabriel Buon, 1597. In-12, red morocco, triple gilt fillet, ornate spine, interior lace, gilt edges (Trautz-Bauzonnet). First edition of this adventure novel in prose mixed with verse, published under the author's usual anagram Ollenix du Mont-Sacré. It is dedicated to Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercoeur and Governor of Brittany, with whom Nicolas de Montreux (1561-1610) took refuge in Nantes after supporting the League. He became his librarian. The work forms the second part of a trilogy entitled L'Œuvre de la Chasteté. The first part had been published in 1595 under the title Œuvre de la Chasteté, which contains the Amours de Criniton et Lydie, and the third, called Les Chastes et fidèles Amours de Criniton et Lydie, appeared in 1599. All of this poet's works are very difficult to find, as J. P. Barbier-Mueller points out. An attractive copy, with fine provenances: P. Desq (1866, no. 703), Comte de Lignerolles (II, 1894, no. 1795), Pierre Louÿs (1930, no. 213) and Edmée Maus. Some light rubbing to binding. J. P. Barbier-Mueller, IV-4, n°29. - Diane Barbier-Mueller, Inventaire..., n°541.