Académie Royale des Médailles et des Inscriptions. MÉDAILLES SUR LES PRINCIPAUX ÉVÉNEMENTS DU RÈGNE DE LOUIS LE GRAND, AVEC DES EXPLICATIONS HISTORIQUES. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1702. Folio [44.5 by 30.5 cm], original full brown mottled calf, sides impressed with the French royal arms in gilt; spine with six raised bands, richly decorated in gilt, with fleurs-de-lis and Louis's cipher; board edges decorated in gilt; all page edges gilt. Superbly engraved allegorical frontispiece by Charles Simonneau l'aîné after Antoine Coypel, with the royal portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud; title vignette by Sébastien Le Clerc within unsigned border by Louis Simonneau; 286 finely engraved plates depicting both sides of 286 medals, with descriptive text within elaborately decorative borders, occasionally with culs-de-lampe, printed on rectos only [Plates 4 and 5 transposed]; (6) page index [ll. 287–289]. Binding very worn, as often seen on this massive volume, but sound, with both boards attached despite cracked joints, tears to the leather, split corners, a lacking spine label, and much rubbing to the extremities; lacking flyleaves. A small stain permeates the first several leaves, including the frontispiece and title, but fades by the time one reaches Plate 8. Occasional marginal discoloration or folded corners. Good overall, but with most leaves being very good. The first edition of perhaps the most sumptuous numismatic work ever produced. Médailles sur les principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand was created by the Académie Royale des Médailles et des Inscriptions and was intended not simply to be a record of the medals of Louis XIV, but a carefully constructed history of his reign. In The Fabrication of Louis XIV, Peter Burke discusses the publication of this work. The king himself was deeply involved in its execution and wished to supplant the previous work on the subject by Claude-François Ménestrier. Burke states that the decision to exclude certain medals was made at the highest levels. From the birth of Louis XIV in 1638 and his ascension to the throne on the death of Louis XIII less than five years later, this work traces the important events in the life of this illustrious monarch as well as the history of France itself. Louis was intensely interested in the arts and did much to create the reputation France still enjoys as a worldwide center of culture. He was determined to expand the royal coin cabinet and issued commemorative medals on many occasions. The historical series of medals struck under this project have been called "the most sophisticated, coherent and numerous body of medals ever produced to commemorate the life and rule of a single figure (Robert Wellington, Antiquarianism and the Visual Histories of Louis XIV: Artifacts for a Future Past, page 40). This devotion to numismatics and historiography is reflected in the physical production of this volume. The finest engravers were hired, the best paper available was used, and the bindings tend to be beautiful and ornate. One does not acquire the sobriquet Le Roi Soleil due to one's simplicity of taste. Even the font used to print the text was specially created for Louis: Romain du Roy was designed by Philippe Grandjean (1666–1714) around 1700, having been in development since 1693. This was the first work printed in this font, which attempted to use scientific principles to develop a font that was both practical and elegant. Only the royal press could use the fonts, which continued to be developed through 1745. The historical descriptions of the medals were written by Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711), and the engravings and other artistic flourishes required the participation of artists Antoine Coypel (1661–1722), Charles Simonneau (1645–1728), Louis Simonneau (1654–1727), Nicolas Pitau (1670–1724), Sébastien Le Clerc (1637–1714), Jean Berain (1640–1711) and many others. Jean Racine (1639–1699) played a role in the early development of the project, which was eventually published under the auspices of the Imprimerie Royale by Jean Anisson (c. 1642–1721). Other participants included Jean-Paul Bignon (1662–1743), the librarian to the king, and Abbé Paul de Tallemand (1642–1712). François Charpentier (1620–1702) was an important member of l'Académie Française and was involved in the production of many of the medals depicted in this volume. While primary authorship has often been ascribed to him, his actual involvement in the work appears unclear. The final product is a masterpiece of the bibliographic arts (the Musée de l'Imprimerie, in Lyon, held an exhibition in 2002 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of this work). Each page depicts the obverse and reverse of a medal, with beautifully printed descriptive text, all within intricate ornamental borders, occasionally with culs-de-lampe. The magnificent allegorical frontispiece was engraved by Charles Simonneau following a design by Coypel and integrating a portrait of Louis by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743). Fleurons and other decorative flourishes abound. This particular copy features a binding with the royal arms emblazoned on both sides and the king's double-L cipher integrated into the spine's intricately gilt design. Baron W.H.J. van Westreenen van Tiellandt (1783–1848), in cataloguing the magnificent library of Pierre Van Damme in 1808, wrote that those copies with the royal arms were "exécutée par les ordres du monarque méme, qui s'en est reservé tous les exemplaires pour en faire des présens." The first edition of this majestic work was presented to Louis XIV on January 9, 1702. A quarto edition was printed the same year. Two other quarto editions, with added text in German, were printed in Schaffhausen (1704) and Baden (1705). Following the king's death in 1715, an expanded folio edition was prepared for publication in 1723. While the condition of this binding is rather poor, this is an opportunity to acquire one of the true masterpieces of numismatic study at a reasonable cost. Brunet III.1565 (23739). Cohen/de Ricci 695. Engel and Serrure 6799. Graesse 459–460. Hirsch 83. Lipsius 253. Ex Kolbe & Fanning Sale 162, lot 421; ex Cardinal Collection Library.