Polyanthea, hoc est, opus suavissimis floribus celebriorum sententiarum tam Graecarum quam Latinarum exornatum. . . .

Dominicus Nani Mirabelli.

Polyanthea, hoc est, opus suavissimis floribus celebriorum sententiarum tam Graecarum quam Latinarum exornatum. . . .

Lyons:

H. E. Vignon,

1600.

This French prize binding is an example of a semé, or semis, binding pattern, in which the surface of the leather is profusely decorated with repeated and regularly arranged small tools within a frame. The upper and lower covers also bear the armorial stamp of Thomas Morant, Baron du Mesnil-Garnier, a domain in Normandy. In 1620, Morant instituted a prize program for the Jesuit College de Mont in Caen, and, as part of the program, he required that prizes be distributed to students in his name in perpetuity.

From the collection of Rare Book School