La Clef de Nostradamus.
Paris: Giffart, 1710. 12mo. li, [v], 469, [3] pp. Contemporary mottled calf, spine and label gilt, edges sprinkled red. Old manuscript label on the front pastedown, old manuscript notes throughout. A remarkable copy. Item #19861
“Only” edition (see below) of this valuable commentary on Nostradamus’ prophecies. Here the author asserts that all previous attempts to decode Nostradamus were done in error. Using philology and analysis of spelling, structure, and syntax, Le Roux explicates the quatrains of Nostradamus’ Centuries in a new and innovative approach representative of Enlightenment-era thought. He posited that Nostradamus used Latin grammar and French language, which resulted in the vague and clumsy verses of his divinations.
This copy is bibliographically fascinating. The author was suspicious of counterfeits, so even though he published the book anonymously, he signed and numbered every authentic copy on page 161 with the title “R de Louvicamp,” taking the first letter of his last name and the town in which he worked as a priest. Our copy does indeed have this authentication. The title bears the imprint of Jacques Piget, 1716, but it is printed on a slip of paper and pasted over the true imprint (Giffart, 1710) which can be seen by shining light through the page. Giffart retired in 1714, and Piget’s shop was just down the street. It seems likely that Piget bought unsold copies of Giffart’s books and plastered his own imprint on the titles. He also “corrected” these copies by changing in manuscript the errors that Giffart identified at the end of the volume and striking through the entire section. I have only located one other copy with Piget’s imprint, at the Mazarine in Paris.
Conlon 15368; Caillet 6579; Chomarat 323; Benazra, Répertoire chronologique nostradamique 284-290.
Price: $3,600.00