Premier Volume de la Bibliothèque du Sieur de La Croix du Maine. Qui est un Catalogue général de toutes sortes d'Autheurs, qui ont escrit en François depuis cinq cents ans et plus, jusques à ce jourd'hui: avec un Discours des vies des plus illustres et renommez entre les trois mille qui sont compris en cet œuvre, ensemble un récit de leurs compositions, tant imprimées qu'autrement. Dédié et présenté au Roy. Sur la fin de ce livre se voyent les desseins et projects dudit sieur de la Croix, lesquels il présenta au Roy l'an 1583 pour dresser une Bibliothèque parfaite et accomplie en toutes sortes. Davantage se voit le Discours de ses œuvres et compositions, imprimé derechef sur la copie qu'il fist mettre en lumiere l'an 1579.

A Paris, chez Abel l'Angelier, 1584. Folio. 22 leaves. 558 pages. 3 leaves. Half-calf, flat spine decorated in the style of Henry II, covers covered with hand-decorated paper (17th century binding). First Edition of the first French national bibliography, founding work of the study of literary production in French. Nearly three thousand authors are quoted, listed in alphabetical order by first name. François Grudé, Sieur de la Croix du Maine (1552-1592) was from Le Mans. Coming from a wealthy family, he had begun to assemble a vast library from the age of seventeen, with the aim of compiling a more complete bibliography than that of Gessner (1555) which only listed works in Greek or in Latin. Suspected of sympathy with the reformed, his assassination in Tours in 1592, at the age of forty, prevented him from continuing the publication of this monumental work of which only the first part was published. This edition contains in particular the presentation of an important royal library project which was not included in the second edition of 1772-1773 in six volumes. The author proposed to bring together a hundred wooden pieces of furniture designed specifically, and of which he gives a representation engraved on wood (p.511). This engraving appears to be the first printed representation of a library cabinet. Beautiful portrait of the book's dedicatee, King Henri II of France, wood-engraved on the back of the title page. Copy bearing in the lower margin of the title page a motto handwritten in ink dated 1584: "Envy le fera" (the signature of the writer has been anciently cut out and repaired). This motto seems to be that of a poet from Douai, Jean Lefebvre, whom we know only from a few sonnets published in Douai works of the time. Ex-libris emblazoned in intaglio signed Stagnon, from a probably Italian owner. Some browning. Nice copy. Besterman, The Beginnings of Systematic Bibliography, pp. 24-25.