[Port Royal - Jansenism] - Lot 30

[Port Royal - Jansenism] Le Maistre de Sacy, Isaac Louis Pseaumes de David. Traduction nouvelle selon l'Hebreu & la Vulgate. Nouvelle Edition, reveuë & corrigée. Paris, Pierre Le Petit, 1688 One volume in-8°, full black morocco, triple gilt fillet on covers, ribbed spine, gilt title and compartments, gilt edges (period binding). Remarkable translation of the Psalms, a masterpiece of French classicism, in a fine period black binding. An exegete, translator and poet, Isaac Le Maistre de Sacy was one of the leading recluses of Port-Royal. He was the grandson of Antoine Arnauld and the younger brother of two other recluses of the Jansenist abbey, Antoine Le Maistre and Simon Le Maistre de Séricourt. Under the influence of the Abbé de Saint-Cyran, Isaac-Louis became a priest in 1649 and the director of conscience for the nuns of Port-Royal. His greatest claim to fame is the commented translation of the Bible, known as the "Bible de Sacy", which he composed alone or in collaboration with other Port-Royal gentlemen (including Pascal and Racine). The Psalms were the first to appear, in 1665. The illustration, engraved on copper, consists of a frontispiece by Nicolas Pitau after Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne and two vignettes, on the title and at the opening of the Psalms.