Dictionnaire raisonné de diplomatique, contenant les regles principales & essentielles pour servir à déchiffrer les anciens Titres, Diplomes & Monuments, ainsi qu'à justifier de leur date & de leur authenticité. On y a joint des Planches rédigées aussi par ordre alphabétique & revues avec le plus grand soin, avec des explications à chacune, pour aider également à connoître les caracteres & écritures des différents âges & de différentes nations.

Paris, Chez Lacombe, 1774.. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. Large 8°, contemporary mottled calf (some wear), spines richly gilt with raised bands in six compartments, crimson morocco lettering and numbering pieces, marbled endleaves, text block edges rouged, two green silk ribbon place markers in each volume. Woodcut vignettes on title pages, woodcut and typographical headpieces and tailpieces, engraved calligraphic plates. Occasional light spotting. In good to very good condition overall. Oval stamps of B.M. Tavares de Proença / J. de Saldanha Oliveira e Souza on rectos of half titles with "374" in ink manuscript at center; octagonal paper labels with blue borders and same number in ink manuscript on spines. xxiv, 547 pp., 25 plates (1 folding); (2 ll.), 482 pp., (1 l.), 26 plates (1 folding). *** FIRST EDITION, later issue: the same as the original 1773 edition except for the new title pages and half titles. This comprehensive dictionary for those studying historical documents or paleography includes 51 engraved plates with facsimiles of ancient and national scripts - one or two plates for each letter of the alphabet, plus other subjects such as Latin abbreviations. The entries in the dictionary include lengthy discussions of dates, abbreviations, scripts, seals, and a host of official documents (secular and clerical). In the preface, the author describes the difficulties of studying this field and what he hopes to accomplish by compiling a dictionary such as this.Jean-François de Vaines (1733-1803) is identified on the title page as a Benedictine from the Congregation of St. Maur, whose members were known for their high level of scholarship.Provenance: D. José de Saldanha Oliveira e Souza, who also used the name José Luiz de Saldanha (1839-1912), was a son of D. João de Saldanha Oliveira Juzarte Figueira e Sousa, 3º conde de Rio Maior, and brother of António José Luís de Saldanha Oliveira Juzarte Figueira e Sousa, 4º conde and 1º marquês de Rio Maior. A chemist and mineralogist, parliamentary deputy, and high government official, he studied mathematics and philosophy at Coimbra University, wrote on subjects as varied as agriculture, finance, and engravings, and amassed an important library. He was a devoted proponent of progress in the national agricultural sector, which he considered one of the primary sources of public wealth. See Grande enciclopédia XIX, 402; Innocêncio XIII, 66-7; Aditamentos, pp. 254-5. The Casa da Anunciada library of the counts of Rio Maior was one of the best private libraries ever formed in Portugal. It was dispersed for the most part not long after the April 1974 Portuguese revolution.*** Not in Michaud.