Beautiful copy of an unusual work on the House of Habsburg, with the coat of arms of the dedicatee, Anne of Austria (1601-1666), on both boards. The work includes the biographies of the thirteen members of the House of Habsburg that were named "Anne", with ten beautifully hand-coloured portraits. The work is exceptionally rare, as we have not been able to trace any other copies on the market, and only five in institutions (of which four in Parisian libraries).
The work discusses thirteen female members of the Habsburg monarchy in chronological order, starting with Anne of Austria, Margravine of Brandenburg (1275-1327), and ending with Infanta Maria Anna Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (17 January 1636-5 December 1636). Anne of Austria (1601-1666), to whom the work is dedicated, is also included in the work. Ten of the biographies are preceded by a full-page engraved portrait, depicting the subject from head to toe, beautifully coloured and heightened with gold. The name "Anne" has been outlined with gold in each biography, highlighting the subject's royal status.
Jean Puget de la Serre (1594-1665) was the official historian of France and librarian to Gaston d'Orléans. He was also an incredibly prolific author who wrote more than a hundred works, many of which on historical events or people. It is known that he placed high importance on illustrations and they can therefore be found in many of his works. He typically included a portrait of himself and his dedicatee, to appeal to his patrons, as well as depictions of the situations or people he described for ease of reading. He was personally involved with the design of his works and paid much attention to the presentation of the image and the text, which he often had decorated with red or black ink. For the copies that were intended for his dedicatees, however, this was not sufficient, so de La Serre had them illuminated. Only 11 such copies are known, including the present.
With the number "1422" written across the spine in black ink, and a recent ownership annotation in blue ink on the front flyleaf. The boards are somewhat rubbed, skilful restorations to the corners and spine, small ink stains on the front and back. The leaves are somewhat soiled around the edges, the corners of page 9 and 19 have been restored, lacking four plates and a frontispiece. Otherwise in good condition. Cioranescu 55782; USTC 6038706 (2 copies); WorldCat 457596991 (5 copies); cf. Meyer, V., "Un auteur du XVIIe siècle et l'illustration de ses livres, Jean Puget de la Serre (1595-1665)", in: Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes, t. 158, 2000, pp. 27-53.