[MEUNG, Jean de]. Le plaisant jeu du dodechedron de fortune, non moins récréatif, que subtil & ingénieux. 1577.
[MEUNG, Jean de].
Le plaisant jeu du dodechedron de fortune, non moins récréatif, que subtil & ingénieux.
Paris, Nicolas Bonfons, 1577.
12mo (168x100 mm), (40)-144 pages and 2 folding tables. binding : Full morocco binding, gilt edges. Binding signed "Chambolle-Duru 1868". Binding with minor discolorations.
The Dodechedron of Fortune, named after the twelve-sided die used to cast oracles and the medieval goddess of Fortune, was a divinatory game, now called “The Magic Mirror of Jehan de Meung.”
This game consisted of choosing questions about the future and finding their answers using a special die, whose twelve faces correspond to the twelve houses of the sky and offer a number that refers to a horoscope or advice.
The two fold-out tables, each 12 by 12 squares, show the signs of the zodiac on the abscissa and the planets on the ordinate, each corresponding to a number on the die. Each square refers to an oracle in the book.
Copy in a fine morocco binding from Chambolle-Duru.
provenance: Ernest Desnos (1852-1925) and Maurice Desgeorge.
Price : 1800 €