The Songs and Sonnets of Pierre de Ronsard, Gentleman of Vendomois.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin (Riverside Press), 1903. #311 of edition limited to 425 copies. Boards. Very Good. 19 cm; xxxvi, 137, [3] pages. Title in "swash" letters within elaborate arabesque border printed in red; red Bruce Rogers device after colophon. Text in Caslon italic (except the introduction, which is in roman). Margins untrimmed. Bound in paper-covered boards, somewhat worn and discolored; title label sun-darkened. Lacks slip case. Ownership inscription on front blank. References: Work of Bruce Rogers, 101; Warde, Bruce Rogers, 37.

Bruce Rogers considered this edition of Ronsard one of his most successful efforts in book design. In a lecture at the Grolier Club in 1939, he named it first in his personal selection. Many flourishes hint at the Renaissance origins of the text, while the whole maintains a thoroughly modern look and feel. (Inventory #: 5546)