Emblem Book, Le Guide Fidele de la Vraie Gloire, 1688. This work in French is titled “Le Guide Fidele de la Vraie Gloire Presente a Monseigneur le Duc de Bourgogne”, which means “The Faithful Guide to True Glory presented to the Duke of Bourgoyne”, written by the Reverend Father Andre Thomas Barenger and published by Chez Pierre Landry on rue St. Jacques in 1688. A first edition, according to WorldCat, illustrated with 44 engravings by Franz Ertinger and Nicolas Guerard, the first twelve illustrate the Confession of Faith, followed by Our Father, the Commandments, and then the Deadly Sins, and the text is printed on the left side and the engravings that go with the text are printed on the right side. Ertinger was a Flemish or German Old Masters artist who lived from 1648 to 1710 and was active in France, and Nicolas Guerard was a French artist and engraver who lived in Paris from about 1648 to 1719. Bound in polished period calf, with five raised bands and gilt lettering and gilt decorations on the spine, marbled endpapers, and marginalia added by the printer, the first blank flyleaf says “ouvrage rare et curiuse, orne de 45 gravures” in pencil, which means “a rare and curious work, decorated with 45 engravings”, followed by the title page, the illustrations and text, and an Approval leaf (“Approbation”) at the rear, and to get the total of 45 engravings, we counted the 44 full-page engravings and the small engraving at the top of the Dedication page, just before the Preface page. The book is called an emblem book because it is a collection of symbolic pictures that are accompanied by text made up of verse or prose commentary, and it is a rare emblem book of the 17th century. The Reverend Pere Andre Thomas Barenger (ca. 1640 - 1710) was a Doctor of Theology, and the engravings feature religious-based themes. The book was dedicated to the Duc de Bourgogne - the Duke of Burgundy - who was the grandson of the reigning French king, Louis XIV, and the Duke was second in line to succeed to the throne after his grandfather died. The Duke never reigned, because he died in 1712 and Louis died in 1715, but the Duke’s third son became Louis XV. The book was bought at the PBA Galleries in Canada and measures 6 3/8 x 4 1/8 in. wide, with a pretty solid binding, wear at the crown and edges of the spine, at the tips, and a slight separation along the front edge of the spine, there is light browning along the edges of the pages and a couple of darker spots in the margins of a couple of pages, a small tear on one page, and one article says there are supposed to be 49 illustrations, but we cannot confirm that. A rare emblem book about Catholic church doctrine, as is. #5450