Michaelis de Marolles-Abbatis de Villeloin

Michel de Marolles (22 July 1600, Genillé - 6 March 1681, Paris), known as the abbé de Marolles, was a French churchman and translator, known for his collection of

old master prints An old master print (also spaced masterprint) is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (mostly by Old Masters). The term remains current in the art trade, and there is no easy alternative in English to disting ...

. He became a monk in 1610 and later was Abbot of Villeloin (1626–1674). He was the author of many translations of Latin poets and was part of many

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

s, notably that of

Madeleine de Scudéry Madeleine de Scudéry (; 15 November 1607 – 2 June 1701), often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry (), was a French writer. Her works demonstrate such comprehensive knowledge of ancient history that it is suspected she had received ins ...

. He is best known for having collected 123,000 prints (bought from him in 1667 by Colbert for

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

for 28,000 livres) - this acquisition is considered the foundation of the cabinet of prints in the royal library, though it was only constituted as a department in 1720.

Publications

Abbé de Marolles is the author of the earliest printed rules for the game of Tarot. They were new rules for the game created by Princess Marie-Louise of Gonzague-Nevers, later Queen of Poland, and were published in

Nevers Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...

in 1637.''Early 17th Century French Tarot (according to the Abbé de Marolles, 1637)''
at

pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been describ ...

. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

Translations

*Liturgy : ''L'Office de la semaine saincte, selon le missel et bréviaire romain, en latin et en françois'' (''The Office for Holy Week, according to the missal and Roman Breviary, in Latin and French'', 1645) *

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

: ''Les Œuvres de M. Année Lucain, ou l'Histoire des guerres civiles entre César et Pompée et des principaux combats qui se passèrent en la sanglante journée de Pharsale'' (''The Works of M. Annius Lucan, or the History of the civil wars between Caesar and Pompey and the main fights which happened on the bloody day at Pharsalus'', 1623, 1647 & 1649) *

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

: ''Les Œuvres de Virgile, traduites en prose, enrichies de tables, remarques, commentaires, éloges et vie de l'autheur, avec une explication géographique du voyage d'Énée et de l'ancienne Italie et un Abrégé de l'histoire, contenant ce qui s'est passé de plus mémorable depuis l'embrazement de Troye jusques à l'empire d'Auguste, pour l'intelligence du poëte'' (''The Works of Virgil, translated into prose, enriched with tables, remarks, commentaries, elogies and the life of the author, with a geographical explanation of Aeneas's voyage and an abstract of the plot, containing the most memorable events from the burning of Troy to the empire of Augustus, for the poet's intelligence.'', 1649) *

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( ; ; – October 15, 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem '' De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is t ...

: ''Le Poète Lucrèce, latin et françois'' (''The Poet Lucretius, in Latin and French'', 1659) *

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

: ''Les Œuvres, en latin et françois'' (''The Works, in Latin and French'', 2 volumes, 1652-1653) *

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a few r ...

Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium (now Assisi) and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of '' Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the ...

: ''Catulle, Tibulle, Properce, de la traduction de M. de Marolle'' (''Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, in the translation by M. de Marolle'', 2 volumes, 1653) *

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...

: ''Toutes les Épigrammes, en latin et en françois'' (''All the Epigrams, in Latin and French'', 1655) *

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...

and

Persius Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satire, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his ...

: ''Les Satires de Juvénal et de Perse'' (''The Satires of Juvenal and Persius'', 1658) *

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek language, Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Theb ...

: ''Les Sylves et l'Achilléide'' (''The Silvae and

Achilleid The ''Achilleid'' (; ) is an unfinished epic poem by Publius Papinius Statius that was intended to present the life of Achilles from his youth to his death at Troy. Only about one and a half books (1,127 dactylic hexameters) were completed befor ...

'', 1658) *Statius : ''La Thébaïde'' (''The

Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais (, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nome (Egypt), nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos, Egypt, Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximit ...

'', 1658) *

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

: ''Les Comédies de Plaute, avec des remarques en latin et en françoys'' (''The Comedies of Plautus, with notes in Latin and French'', 1658) *Liturgy : ''Le Bréviaire romain'' (''The Roman Breviary'', 1659) *Lucretius : ''Les Six Livres de la Nature des choses'' (''The Six Books of

On the Nature of Things (; ''On the Nature of Things'') is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius () with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is di ...

'', 1650, revised 1659) * Seneca : ''Les Tragédies'' (''The Tragedies'', 1659) *

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

: ''Les Livres de l'Art d'aimer et des Remèdes d'amour'' (''The

Ars Amatoria The (''The Art of Love'') is an instructional elegy series in three books by the ancient Roman poet Ovid. It was written in 2 AD. Content Book one of was written to show a man how to find a woman. In book two, Ovid shows how to keep her. These ...

and the

Remedia Amoris (also known as ''Love's Remedy'' or ''The Cure for Love''; ) is an 814-line poem in Latin by Roman poet Ovid. In this companion poem to '' The Art of Love'', Ovid offers advice and strategies to avoid being hurt by love feelings, or to fall out ...

'', 1660). Republished : Les Bibliophiles de Montmartre, Paris, 1950. *Ovid : ''Les Fastes'' (''

Fasti In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simi ...

'', 1660) *Ovid : ''Les Épistres héroïdes d'Ovide'' (''

Heroides The ''Heroides'' (''The Heroines''), or ''Epistulae Heroidum'' (''Letters of Heroines''), is a collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroin ...

of Ovid'', 1661) *Ovid : ''Les Tristes d'Ovide, de la Traduction de M. D. M. A. D. V.'' (''The

Tristia The ''Tristia'' ("Sad things" or "Sorrows") is a collection of poems written in elegiac couplets by the Augustan poet Ovid during the first three years following his banishment from Rome to Tomis on the Black Sea in AD 8. Despite five books i ...

of Ovid, in the Translation by M. D. M. A. D. V.'', Paris, Veuve de Pierre Lamy, 1661) *Ovid : ''Les Quatre Livres des Épistres d'Ovide, escrites du lieu de son exil dans la province de Pont'' ('' The Four Books of Ovid's letters, written in exile in the province of Pontus'', 1661) *Ovid : ''Recueil de diverses pièces d'Ovide, et d'autres poëtes anciens, �� en latin et en françois, de la Traduction de M. D. M. A. D. V.'' (''Collection of several pieces by Ovid and other antique poets ..., in Latin and French, in the translation by M. D. M. A. D. V.'', Paris, Louis Billaine, 1661) *Virgil : ''L'Énéide. Les Bucoliques. Les Géorgiques'' (''The Aeneid, the Bucolics, the Georgics'', 3 volumes, 1662) *''

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

'' : ''Le Nouveau Testament de Nostre Seigneur Jésus-Christ'' (''The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ'', 1664) *''Bible'' : ''Livres des pseaumes et cantiques, latin et françois, de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament, enrichis de préfaces, argumens, titres et briefves annotations'' (''Books of the psalms and songs, in Latin and French, from the Old and New Testament, enriched with prefaces, arguments, titles and brief annotations'', 1666) *

Aelius Lampridius The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

: ''L'Histoire auguste des six autheurs anciens'' (''The Historia Augusta from six ancient authors'', 1667) *Petronius : ''Le Pétrone en vers'' (''Petronius in verse'', 1667) *

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

: ''L'Histoire des François de S. Grégoire, evesque de Tours, qui vivait il y a près d'onze cents ans ; avec le Supplément de Frédégaire, écrit par les ordres de Childebrand, frère de Charles-Martel. La seconde partie des Histoires de S. Grégoire, contenant ses livres de la gloire des martyrs et des confesseurs, avec les quatre livres de la vie de S. Martin, et celuy de la vie des Pères'' (''The history of the Franks by St Gregory, bishop of Tours, who lived around 1100; with the Supplement of Fredegar, written on the order of Childebrand, brother of Charles Martel. The second part of the Histories of St Gregory, containing his books on the glory of the martyrs and confessors, with the four books of the life of St Martin, and that on the life of the Fathers'', 1668) *Petronius : ''Les Poèmes de l'embrazement de Troye et du changement de la République romaine, en concurrence de Virgile et de Lucain, par un fameux auteur du temps de Néron, traduits en vers'' (''The Poems on the burning of Troy and the changing of the Roman republic, in parallel with those of Virgil and Lucan, by a famous author of the time of Nero, translated into verse'', 1671) *Catullus : ''Les Épitalames de Catulle et les Nopces de Pélée et de Thétis, avec le poëme des Éloges de Vénus, traduits en vers'' (''The Epithlamia of Catullus and the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, with the poem of the Praises of Venus, translated into verse'', 1671) *

Phocas Phocas (; ; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the East Roman army, Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the cour ...

: ''La Vie de Virgile écrite en vers, avec plusieurs Éloges et toutes les Épigrammes des douze autheurs, lesquels ont écrit différemment sur un mesme sujet. Les Catalectes de Virgile et de quelques autres poètes anciens, traduits en vers'' (''The Life of Virgil in verse, with many Elogies and all the Epigrams of 12 authors, which were written differently on the same subject. The Catalects of Virgil and several ancient poets, translated into verse.'', 1671) *''

'' : ''Le Livre de la Genèse, le livre de l'Exode, & les XXIII premiers chapitres du Lévitique, traduits en franc̜ois, avec des notes'' (''The Book of Genesis, the Book of Exodus and the first 23 chapters of Leviticus, translated into French, with notes'', c. 1671) *

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

: ''Les dix-huit Livres qui nous restent des XXXI de l'histoire qu'avait composée Ammian Marcellin, depuis l'an de N. S. 354 jusques en 378'' (''The 28 surviving books from the 31 books of the history composed by Ammianus Marcellinus, from AD 354 to 378'', 1672) *Various authors : ''Les Catalectes des anciens poètes latins, première partie contenant les second et troisième livres, selon le recueil de Scaliger'' (''The Catalects of ancient Latin poets, first part containing the second and third books, according to the account of Scaliger'', 1675) *Martial : ''Les Quinze livres, traduits en vers avec des remarques et des tables'' (''The 15 books, translated into verse with remarks and tables'', 1675) *Ovid : ''Les Métamorphoses d'Ovide comprises en quatre vers pour chaque fable des 15 livres de cet ouvrage ou plus tôt pour leur servir d'argument'' (''The Metamorphoses of Ovid, made up of 4 poems for each fable in the 15 books of this work, or sooner to serve their argument'', 1677) *''Bible'' : ''Le Cantique des cantiques de Salomon. Traduction en vers selon le sens litteral'' (''The Song of Songs by Solomon. Verse translation according to the literal sense.'', 1677) *''Bible'' : ''La Prophétie de Daniel. Traduction en vers'' (''The Prophecy of Daniel. Verse translation'', 1677) *''Bible'' : ''Traduction en vers de l'Apocalypse de Saint Jean apostre, selon le sens litteral exprimé par la version latine appellée Vulgate, & par les autres versions franc̜oises approuvées'' (''Verse translation of the Apocalypse of Saint John the Apostle, according to the literal sense expressed in the Latin version called the Vulgate, and by other approved French versions'', 1677) *''Bible'' : ''Les Prophètes Jonas et Nahum. Touchant la pénitence des Ninivites. Traduction en vers, avec des remarques'' (''The Prophets Jonah and Nehemiah. Touching on the penitence of the Ninevites. Verse translation, with remarks.'', 1678) *Ovid : ''Toutes les pièces qui nous restent de ce poète, lesquelles il composa pendant son exil, contenues dans les deux grands ouvrages que nous avons de luy sur ce sujet sous deux titres différents de Tristes et de Pont'' (''All this poet's surviving works, those composed in his exile, contained in the two great works we have read on this subject under the different titles Tristia and ex Ponto'', 1660) *''Bible'' : ''Les Épistres et Evangiles, avec les Oraisons propres'' (''The Epistles and Gospels, with their own prayers'', 1688) *Various authors : ''Analise, ou Description succincte des choses contenues dans les quinze livres des Deipnosophistes d'Athénée, ouvrage délicieux traduit pour la première fois en françois'' (s.d.)

Prints

*'' Les Misères et les malheurs de la guerre'' (1633). Captions by Michel de Marolles accompanying the etchings of

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and drawing, draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine. He is an important person in the development of the old master print. He made more than 1,400 etchings that chronicled the life of his peri ...

. Republished : B. Laville, Paris, 1969. *''Tableaux du temple des muses tirez du cabinet de feu Mr Favereau, et gravez en tailles-douces par les meilleurs maistres de son temps pour représenter les vertus et les vices, sur les plus illustres fables de l'antiquité, avec les descriptions, remarques et annotations'' (1655) *''Catalogue de livres d'estampes et de figures en taille douce, avec un dénombrement des pièces qui y sont contenues, fait à Paris en l'année 1666'' (1666) *''Catalogue de livres d'estampes et de figures en taille-douce, avec un dénombrement des pièces qui y sont contenues, fait à Paris en l'année 1672'' (1672) *''Le Livre des peintres et des graveurs'' (1862)

Histories and other

*''Histoire romaine'' e Nicolas Coeffeteau">Nicolas_Coeffeteau.html" ;"title="e Nicolas Coeffeteau">e Nicolas Coeffeteau ''continuée depuis le commencement de l'empire de Dioclétian et de Maximian jusques à celuy de Valentinian et de Valens, avec les épitomés de Messala Corvinus, Aurelius Victor, Sextus Rufus, et autres'' (1630) *''Les Mémoires de Michel de Marolles, abbé de Villeloin, divisés en trois parties, contenant ce qu'il a vu de plus remarquable en sa vie, depuis l'année 1600, ses entretiens avec quelques-uns des plus savants hommes de son temps, et les généalogies de quelques familles alliées dans la sienne ; avec une briève description de la très-illustre maison de Mantoue et de Nevers'' (1656) *''Suitte des Mémoires de Michel de Marolles abbé de Villeloin contenant douze traitez sur divers Sujets curieux...'' (1657) *''Mémoires de Michel de Marolles abbé de Villeloin. Avec des notes historiques et critiques'' [by abbé Gouget] (1755). This edition does not include the interesting genealogical notes in the Sommaville edition of 1656, though they do appear in a rare ''Suitte'' of 1657 *''Traité du poëme épique, pour l'intelligence de l'Énéïde de Virgile'' (1662). Réédition : Olms, New York, 1974. *''Histoire des roys de France et des choses plus mémorables qui se sont passées sous leur règne. Écrite en abregé sur le modèle des anciens'' (1663) *''Paris, ou la Description succincte, et néanmoins assez ample, de cette grande ville, par un certain nombre d'épigrammes de quatre vers chacune, sur divers sujets'' (1677) *''Trois essais pour la version entière de la Bible, selon l'édition qui fut commencée de l'année 1665'' (1678) *''Les Histoires des anciens comtes d'Anjou et de la construction d'Amboise, avec des remarques sur chaque ouvrage'' (1681) *''Inventaire des titres de Nevers, de l'abbé de Marolles, suivi d'extraits des titres de Bourgogne et de Nivernois, d'extraits des inventaires des archives de l'église de Nevers et de l'inventaire des archives des Bordes, publié et annoté par le Cte de Soultrait'' (1873) *''Géographie sacrée contenant les noms de tous les éveschés de l'Église latine. Les Apostres. Les Saints évangélistes. Les SS. Docteurs de l'Église. Les Papes qui ont esté depuis 1600'' (s.d.) *''Considérations sur une critique judicieuse qui s'est faite sur l'Énéide de Virgile, avec des exemples tirez des versions de quelqu'autres ouvrages de plusieurs poètes illustres de l'antiquité, pour montrer ce que peut notre langue françoise sur ce sujet'' (s.d.) *''Le Roy, les personnes de la cour, qui sont de la première qualité, et quelques-uns de la noblesse qui ont aimé les lettres ou qui s'y sont signalés par quelques ouvrages considérables'' (s.d.)

References

Bibliography

* Abbé Louis Bossebœuf, ''Un Précurseur: Michel de Marolles, abbé de Villeloin, sa vie et son œuvre'', Tours, Imprimerie Tourangelle, 1911 ou 1912 (et Genève, Slatkine Reprint, 1971). *

Depaulis, Thierry Thierry Depaulis (born 1949) is an independent historian of games and especially of playing cards, card games, and board games. He is President of the association ''Le Vieux Papier'', a member of the editorial board of the International Board Game ...

(2002). "Quand l'abbé de Marolles jouait au tarot" in ''Le Vieux Papier'', no. 365, July 2002, pp. 313–316. * Jean Rou, ''Mémoires Inédits et Opuscules de Jean Rou (1638–1711)'', published by Francis Waddington for the Société de l'Histoire du protestantisme français, Paris, Agence Centrale de la Société, 1857, 2 vol. [These ''Mémoires'' contain direct evidence on the abbé de Marolles from his Protestant friend and neighbour Jean Rou, avocat to the Parlement de Paris (1659) and interpreter to the ambassador to the Dutch Republic (1689–1711). Some copies of these ''Mémoires'' have a "feuille additionnelle spéciale" containing passages which, for example, "could offend modern sensibilities" ; one of these passages is in two feuillets concerning the abbé de Marolles and attributing to him "advanced" ideas and secret descendents.] * Jean Bernard, ''Portrait d'un honnête homme, Michel de Marolles, abbé de Villeloin'', in ''Les Amis du Pays Lochois'', n° 12, December 1996, I.S.S.N.-1244-3816, pp. 73–98

Publications

Translations

Prints

Histories and other

References

Bibliography

See also