[SENS]

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Rare first edition of the reformed Coutumes of the ancient town of Sens and its region, edited by Christophe de Thou, Christophe Harlay and Barthelemy Faye by order of the King; th e third book printed in Sens and the first by this printer. It is particularly rare The Repertoire bibliographique des livres imprimes en France au Seizieme Siecle locates two complete copies only, one printed on vellum at the British library and the other at the Bibliotheque Municipal of Sens. (another is now at Berkeley). The work is of great interest for the modernizing and systematizing of the medieval feudal Coustumes of Sens. It is divided into three parts; the first the final revision of the Coutumes created by the three magistrates. The second is the Proces Verbal a detailed, authenticated account of the proceedings in the exercise of the revision of the Coutumes, including a list of all the Prelats, Abbes, Chapitres, Colleges &Persones Ecclesiastiques, Ducs, Comtes, Barons, Chastelains & Seigneurs Iusticers, Les Officiers du Roy, Advocats, Procureurs, Bourgeois whom the work would concern, providing a form of census. The third is a printing of the ancient unrevised Coustumes. It is most interesting not only in revealing the changes it makes to the quasi feudal Coustumes , but for providing a detailed account of why and how those changes were made. Christophe de Thou (1508 1582) was an eminent French advocate, and the First President of the Parliament of Paris in 1554. He served as chancellor to the Duke of Anjou and was an advisor successively to Henry II, Charles IX, and Henry III. His son, Jacques Auguste de Thou was the noted French historian and book collector. An entirely original copy of this rare and attractively printed work. Show more