Thou, Jacques Auguste de ( 1553-1617 )
The French historian, statesman, royal librarian,
and perhaps the most famous bibliophile since JEAN GROLIER . Thou
inherited his father's library of (rare) books in
1583. Many of his books were simply bound in red,
olive, or citron colored morocco, with plain
boards, a few border lines in gilt, and his coat
of arms in the center of the upper cover,
surrounded by laurel branches, but with only the
title and his cipher on the spine. Other volumes
were bound in the celebrated FANFARE STYLE . Thou
had books printed on paper made especially for
him, and by the time of his death had accumulated
a library of some 1,000 manuscripts and 8,000
books. His library was sold in a series of sales
by several owners from 1680 to 1789. Because of
the high quality of his books and the ease with
which they can be recognized, their survival rate
is very high.
Thou is generally called de Thou and is often
indexed under D, although his Latin name, and the
one under which he wrote, was and is Thuanus. (50 , 94 , 286 )
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