Metamorphosis in Print: A Fully Illustrated 1621 Ovid in French Prose. THE BOOK: Publius Ovidius Naso — Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, traduittes en Prose Françoise… Avec XV Discours… [suivi du] Jugement de Pâris (Paris: Héritiers d’Abel L’Angelier, 1621). Octavo, three parts in one. Complete: [16]-16, [16], 17–669, [15], 52, 254, [2] pp. Illustrated with an engraved title-frontispiece, an engraved portrait of Ovid, and 15 full-page copper-engraved plates (one before each book) by Jaspar Isaac; plus an additional engraving in the Jugement de Pâris. Modern full-calf binding in 17th-century panel style, blind-tooled, gilt spine title. MOUSEION CURATOR NOTE: “A book of metamorphoses that itself teaches metamorphosis: plate to story, story to moral. Fifteen myths rise first as images, then as fluent French, and finally as counsel—Ovid disciplined for a Bourbon court and irresistible to the eye.” BOOK DESCRIPTION: Earliest and very scarce in commerce, Paris one-plate-per-book French-prose Ovid. The edition that codified the pedagogic triad of plate-prose-discours—defining Ovid reception in France. Printed in Paris in 1621 by the heirs of Abel L’Angelier—the pre-eminent Grand’Salle du Palais booksellers—this edition presents Ovid in French prose by Nicolas Renouard, a royal counselor who shaped how early-seventeenth-century readers encountered the poet. It is a text designed for guided reading: each of Ovid’s fifteen books is introduced by a full-page copper engraving by Jaspar Isaac; after the narrative comes a “Discours” giving the explication morale des fables. The volume also includes Renouard’s poetic Jugement de Pâris with its own engraving, and a rich set of preliminaries—royal privilege, dedications (including “A MONSIEUR, MONSIEUR DE LVYNES…”), and liminary verse (e.g., the poem “A MONSIEUR RENOVARD, sur la traduction Moderne des Metamorphoses d’Ovide.”). PROVENANCE: A clearly legible, nineteenth-century continental chain of custody: Arthur Pitt, Paris — ink inscription “Juin 1865, à Paris” on the dedication leaf to the duc de Luynes (mid-Victorian copperplate hand). Charles Gammaerts, Namur — signature “Charles Gammaerts / Namur” and library stamp on the engraved title and two other leaves (late 19th–early 20th century). These marks trace the book from the Paris antiquarian trade of 1865 into a Belgian private library, a classic trajectory for French illustrated classics. The inscriptions sit in upper margins, discrete and attractive. MOUSEION CURATOR NOTE: “Plate—prose—moral: the rhythm of the book is a lesson in reading. Each image opens a door; the French carries you through; the Discours closes the room with counsel. Few volumes wear their pedagogy so gracefully.” CONDITION REPORT: Text & plates. Clean, complete copy. Paper with even, light toning; occasional tiny specks only. Strong impressions of the copperplates with full plate-marks. The engraved title presents with mild age-tone at top and a tiny chip at the extreme lower outer corner (outside the engraved frame). The typographic leaves in prelims (e.g., de Luynes dedication; the liminary poem “A MONSIEUR RENOVARD…”) are fresh with crisp head-pieces and initials. Binding. Modern full calf (recent artisan work) in seventeenth-century French panel style: blind-paneled boards with corner fleurons; spine with raised bands and Greek-key rolls, gilt title “LES METAMORPHOSES D’OVIDE” and gilt “PARIS 1621” at foot. Tight joints, square boards—an elegant, durable rebinding ideal for an intaglio-illustrated volume. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Translator — Nicolas Renouard (“Renovard”). A jurist and royal counselor, Renouard’s aim was clarity and ethical utility: fluent French prose in place of hexameters, paired with fifteen moral “Discours.” The engraver, Jaspar Isaac, was active in Paris with Netherlandish ties, Isaac created a coherent cycle (one plate per book) that became the L’Angelier look for Ovid—narrative clarity over bravura, perfectly tuned to the Discours. Publisher — Héritiers d’Abel L’Angelier. The Grand’Salle du Palais house specialized in prestige literary editions; combining letterpress with rolling-press copperplates and protected by royal privilege, they produced the definitive Paris Ovid for the 1617–1621 window. Dedications to the King and to Charles d’Albert, duc de Luynes situate the edition in the politics of patronage; liminary poems (including Jean de Lingendes’ celebrated elegy in this tradition) frame Ovid’s pagan matter for a Catholic monarchy. The engraved title-frontispiece stages the program with architectural triumph, Latin motto banners, and the imprint tablet reading “A PARIS, Chez les héritiers d’Abel L’Angelier… M.DC.XXI. AVEC PRIVILEGE DU ROY.” Inside, Isaac’s plates—vigorous burin, multi-scene compositions with labeled figures—turn each book into a visual synopsis. In short: the essential L’Angelier-Isaac Ovid—vernacular, illustrated, and moralized—the form in which a generation learned to read Ovid under Louis XIII. #ExclusiveCabinetofCuriosities