1698 Rare Latin French Bible - Book of Chronicles, Paralipomenon, Paralipomènes

Author: Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy.
Title: Les Paralipomènes, traduits en François, avec une explication tirée des Saints Pères & des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques. Suivis d’Esdras & du Livre de Néhémias.
Publisher: Paris, Guillaume Desprez, Imprimeur & Libraire ordinaire du Roi, 1698.
Language: Text in Latin and French.
Size: 8 x 5.5 inches.
Pages: 612-286 pages.
Binding: Very good contemporary full calf binding, covers blind-ruled, spine with raised bands, richly gilt compartments with fleurons and ornate tooling, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt (Paralipom. et Esdras). Edges sprinkled red. (hinges fine, overall slightly worn on top of spine and scuffed - as shown, surface abrasions - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing, toning and staining - as shown, the blank free rear endpaper page is lacking - as shown).  .
Illustrations: Illustrated with a finely engraved title vignette and several woodcut headpieces depicting biblical scenes, including narrative compositions at the opening of Les Paralipomènes and Esdras. Decorative typographic initials throughout.

Estimate: (USD 250–350).

The book: This 1698 Paris edition brings together Les Paralipomènes (Chronicles), Esdras, and Néhémias in the celebrated French translation of Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy. Issued by Guillaume Desprez, one of the most important royal printers under Louis XIV, the volume exemplifies the high standards of late 17th-century Parisian religious printing. Intended for both devotional reading and learned study, it combines vernacular scripture with extensive explanations drawn from the Church Fathers and authoritative ecclesiastical writers. The engraved title vignette and narrative woodcuts enrich the text, offering visual anchors for meditation and instruction.

The author: Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy (1613–1684), a leading figure of the Port-Royal circle, is best known for his monumental French translation of the Bible, commonly referred to as the Bible de Sacy. Praised for its clarity, elegance, and fidelity, his work shaped French religious language for generations and remained widely read well into the 18th century. Despite later controversies surrounding Jansenism, de Sacy’s biblical translations were valued for their pedagogical clarity and enduring literary quality.