FEBRET (Charles)
    TREATISE ON THE ABUSE AND TRUE SUBJECT OF THE APPELLATIONS QUALIFYING WITH THIS NAME OF ABUSE
Édition :
    Dijon
Date :
    1653
    folio, full brown calf, spine with raised bands richly decorated, title page in burgundy morocco, gilt fillets framing the covers, marbled edges, portrait of Louis XIV as a young man as frontispiece, red and black title page, (scuffing on the covers with slight losses, lower headcap a little short, some worming in the margin without consequence on the text, some foxing), a good copy despite the defects indicated, 24 ff - 702 p. 13 f. p.
    Dupin (no. 1799) indicates a first edition from 1654, a date also given in the BNF catalog (E-310, same description) and at Berkeley (BQV387.F48 folio). This is therefore an extremely rare edition (which we have been unable to locate in any of the major international public libraries), probably the true original that we are presenting. This text was crucial for reflection on Gallicanism and on the jurisdiction of secular courts to address abuses (see especially Book I, Chapter 3, “What is the Gallican Church and what do its immunities, privileges, and franchises consist of principally, and why are they liberties and not privileges?”). As Camus points out, this work has a broader scope than its title suggests. But beyond the subject matter, which is ultimately quite well known, we would like to highlight two aspects that seem to have received little attention until now. The first point to note is the frontispiece depicting Louis XIV as a child in majesty. Given the date of publication, we are at the very end of the Fronde (with the arrest of Cardinal de Retz in 1652), but Louis XIV would not be crowned king until 1654. This explains why, in this depiction, while he holds the sceptre, the hand of justice, and the royal mantle, his brow is encircled only by a laurel wreath. To our knowledge, this is a rather rare representation, its symbolism both demonstrative and ambiguous regarding the true nature of this "almost king." We must add, and this is the second point we wished to emphasize, the epistle of 16 P. that Fevret addresses “to the King,” which constitutes a commentary on the symbolism of the frontispiece, explaining that the royal insignia “are not vain simulacra of honor, nor appearances of outward pomp… they are sacred numbers… various hieroglyphs.” The rest of the text, under the guise of marking the submission of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and canon law to temporal power, multiplies allusions to the “power of justice of the monarch which appeases conflicts,” which naturally refers to the Fronde. This iconography deserves an analysis that would extend the excellent study by J.-M. Carbasse, published in the latest issue of the Revue d'histoire des facultés de droit, on an image of sovereignty in the medieval period.

Référence : 9339

Mots-clés :

Malheureusement, ce livre n'est plus disponible.

Pour être informé lorsque nous recevrons un prochain exemplaire, merci de compléter le formulaire ci-dessous :

5 + 8 =

New acquisitions

1 25
View all