Fleurimont, Medailles du regne de Louis XV

GR Fleurimont, Medailles du regne de Louis XV, sn, Paris sd (after 1748), wonderful allegorical frontispiece, splendid frontispiece within a rocaille cartouche, dedication to the sovereign with an illustrated frame, 78 magnificent plates of finely engraved medals relating to the celebration of the most significant events in the life of Louis XV (the last of which bears the date 1748) each enclosed in a historiated frame and decorated with a tailpiece, 34 cm, highly valuable contemporary binding in spotted calfskin, six-ribbed spine with compartments enriched with phytomorphic friezes impressed in gold, gold title on a red morocco insert, plates decorated with elegant dry fillets and gilded edges, endpapers in fine marbled paper, edges dyed in red.

A sumptuous volume, in folio and on heavy paper, an authentic tribute to the art of numismatic engraving.

“Medailles du règne de Louis XV” was published in seven editions, each of which was enriched with new plates as Louis XV's life progressed. The 1748 edition, the subject of this description, is the seventh and last, the most extensive and definitive. The progressive and cumulative nature of the work has generated many uncertainties in the bibliographical field, further complicated by the alternation of editorial attributions: the first editions bear the name of Nicolas Godonnesche, while the subsequent ones are signed GR Fleurimont.

The known editions are:

1. With 33 plates, the last dated 1727, with dedication signed Godonnesche.

2. With 52 plates, the last one dated 1734, with dedication signed Godonnesche.

3. With 54 plates, the last one dated 1736, with dedication signed Godonnesche.

4. With 54 plates, the last dated 1736, with dedication signed Fleurimont.

5. With 54 plates, the last dated 1736, with dedication signed Fleurimont and engraved frontispiece.

6. With 63 numbered plates, the last dated 1745, plus 1 or 2 unnumbered plates and the frontispiece, with dedication signed Fleurimont.

7. With 78 plates, the last dated 1748, plus the frontispiece, with dedication signed Fleurimont.

Clas-Ove Strandberg in his catalogue of the collection of numismatic books of Queen Lovisa Ulrika (Stockholm 2001), clarified the matter by assuming that Godonnesche and Fleurimont were in fact the same person. Godonnesche was an engraver and curator of the Royal Cabinet of Medals. In 1731 he produced satirical engravings for JL Boursier's work, Explication abrégée des principales questions qui ont rapport aux affaires présentes, for which he lost his commission and was imprisoned in the Bastille. Once released, according to Strandberg, he continued to publish his works under the pseudonym Fleurimont. Regardless of the biographical truth, the work remains an extraordinary example of the art of engraving and a fundamental testimony to the medals of the period.

19th century numismatic ex libris on the back of the front cover.

Very slight traces of use on the spine, otherwise in superb condition with very fresh paper.

Very rare.