1697 Latin French Bible - The Book of Numbers, Les Nombres by Le Maistre de Sacy

Author: Translated and annotated by Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy.
Title: Les Nombres, traduits en François, avec l’explication du sens littéral & du sens spirituel.
Publisher: Paris, Guillaume Desprez, 1697.
Language: Text in Latin and French.
Size: 6.5 x 4 inches. 
Pages: xx-444 pages.
Binding: Very good contemporary full calf binding, spine with raised bands, richly gilt compartments with floral tools, and red morocco lettering piece titled Les Nombres. Boards with mottled calf patina (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. The binding remains solid and attractive, with a pleasing early eighteenth-century presence.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing, toning and staining - as shown,  contemporary manuscript ownership inscription to a preliminary blank leaf  - as shown).
Illustrations: Woodcut printer’s device on the title page. Decorative headpieces, initials, and typographic ornaments throughout.

The book: This volume contains the Book of Numbers from the Old Testament, presented in the celebrated French translation by Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy, accompanied by extensive explanations of both the literal and spiritual meanings of the text. Issued here in its fifth edition, printed in Paris by Guillaume Desprez in 1697, it forms part of one of the most influential French biblical enterprises of the seventeenth century. Designed for devotional reading as well as theological study, the text integrates Scripture with patristic and ecclesiastical commentary, reflecting the scholarly and spiritual rigor of the Port-Royal tradition.

The translation: Lemaistre de Sacy’s Bible was a cornerstone of French religious culture, admired for the clarity and elegance of its language. His approach sought to make Scripture accessible while remaining faithful to theological tradition, and his translations were widely read by clergy and lay readers alike. Volumes such as Les Nombres illustrate how biblical texts circulated as individual books, often acquired gradually and bound for long-term use.