LA ROQUE Chevalier Jean de Les Secondes amours du sieur de la Rocque, de Clermont en Beauvoisin.

Balsamo-Simonin, 323.

First edition, “de la plus grande rareté” (Bibliothèque Lucien Gougy, n°164).

This collection contains Les Amours de Narsize, a long poem interspersed with 92 sonnets, as well as an Ode au Roy, the Epitalame sur les nopces de Madame and Les Larmes de la Magdaleine. The verses are printed in italics.

Siméon-Guillaume de La Roque was an admirer of Ronsard. He belonged to the household of Henri d’Angoulême along with Malherbe. The two writers shared a similar idea of poetry. Malherbe also seems to have been greatly inspired by the works of La Roque. La Roque was one of the poets of the late sixteenth century who are less studied despite their literary wealth. The case of La Roque seems particularly interesting in view of his varied influences. He was at the crossroads of the poetry of Ronsard and Desportes, with whom he was a friend, as well as Bertaut.

Very rare, only 1 institutional copy listed in the Clermont library. Handwritten inscription on verso of last leaf “Ce livre appartien[t] à Agathe […]”.

Provenance: Copy of Baron Achille Seillère (1813-1873), cited in the Lucien Gougy sale, 1934, no. 164.