Wonderful Dutch edition of Les amours des dames illustres de notre siècle: amorous intrigues of ladies of the French court, possibly illustrated by Romeyn de Hooghe.
This Dutch edition includes a selection of the first six stories and a poem from Les amours des dames illustres de notre siècle (1680), a collection of stories first published separately in the 1660's. Several of the stories were deemed offensive to the French court and were subsequently banned in the Dutch Republic.
Among those was the second story of this collection: "'t Koninklijk paleis, of de minneryen van mejuffer de la Valiere". It comes as no surprise, then, that Timotheus ten Hoorn (1644-1715) used a false imprint. Ten Hoorn was an Amsterdam underground bookseller and publisher of popular and controversial erotic literature; the Geheim features in several of his stock lists.
The plates are unsigned, but are reminiscent of Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708). De Hooghe often collaborated with Ten Hoorn over a period of some 35 years. And the present plates show remarkable stylistic similarities to De Hooghe's engravings in Het leven en d'arglistige treken der courtisanen te Romen, also published in 1680. It's more than likely, then, that the present engravings were made in De Hooghe's studio.
Rare: We trace no auction records in 20 years.
't Geheim van't Fransche hof, 1680. With 8 plates, possibly by Romeyn de Hooghe
't Geheim van’t Fransche hof of de minneryen der doorlugtige juffers van onze eeuw. Uit het Fransch vertaald, en met schoone kopere plaaten vercierd.
Tot Bolswaard, by Jan de Liefde [= Amsterdam, Timotheus ten Hoorn], 1680.