Today I have a small collection of works by and about Saint  Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot:

First, I’d like to quote the Catholic Saints web page to get us going.

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, born in Dijon, France in 1572, was the daughter of the president of the Parliament of Burgundy.  When she was twenty, she married Christophe, Baron de Chantal and they had four children.  Saint Jane Frances became a widow when Christophe was accidentally killed during hunting.  Heartbroken and longing for God, she deepened her spiritual life and took a vow of chastity.

In 1604, during Lent, she met the bishop Saint Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual director.  With his support, Saint Jane Frances formed the Congregation of the Visitation to serve poor people.  This religious order was rather unusual.  It accepted women who were rejected by other others due to age or poor health.  Criticized by some people because of this, she famously responded, “What do you want me to do? I like sick people myself; I’m on their side.”  Even after she died, her Congregation continued and became widespread. https://www.thebestcatholic.com/2016/08/12/saint-jane-frances-de-chantal/

There is so much more to this Woman than what the short biographies note, In the seventeenth century there were three major Biographies of her, ‘the most common (and most published) is La Vie de la vénérable mère Jeanne Françoise Frémiot by Maupas du Tour, Henri Couchon, In this collection there are two editions of this, The next is the most extensive and quite rare it is #603J below, and there is a biography by Pill 1650, which I haven’t seen.

Collection #JFF6) Six books by and about Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot 1642-1667 . $6,000

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603J. Alexandre Fichet(1588-1659) Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot , Baronne of Chantal (1572-1641),

Les Saintes Reliques de l’Erothée, en la sainte vie de la Mere Ieanne Francoise de Fremiot, Baronne de Chantal, Premiere Superieure, &  Fondatrice de l’Ordre de la Visitation sainte Marie. Excellent original de Sainteté & vray purtrait de l’Espouse de Iesvs. De la main du R.P. Alexandre Fichet, Theologica, de la Compagnie de Iesus. Tout lemonde scait, que tu es la femme de vertu. Ruth 3.

Lyon: Chez Vincent De Coeursillys, 1662 

Quarto 22 x 16 Cm. [*1Portrait lacking]*2-4, **1-3 (lacking *4 Blank) *1-2, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4 ,AAa-Zz4, AABB4, AAaaa4-XXxxx3,(lacking XXxxx4 Blank) , a-q4, r1 . It is bound in its original calf with most of the spine missing but it is solid and very readable. This is the second edition (the first was 1642), written by Alexander Fichet SJ. 1588-1659 (Sommervogel DeBacker vol III col. 747 Nº 8). This edition is represented by two US copies BYU and Cornell.

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Next We have the Petite Costume,This is quite a beautiful and important book and it is listed in only two libraries, DePaul and DeSales.

604J. Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, de Chantal, Saint (1572-1641)

Vive Iesvs :petite covstvme de ce monastere de la Visitation saincte Marie d’Annessy .

A Paris : [éditeur non identifié],1642.

Octavo 16.5 x 10 Cm. Signatures: A-P 8 . Bound in very neat nineteenth century sheep binding tooled inblind.
In the preface by Sister Jeanne-Françoise Frémiot [Jeanne de Chantal].
“”These little Customs, my Sisters, will free our dear houses who desire them, from the difficulty they had in asking us questions about the little difficulties that happen to them, because, it is an admirable thing, to see the great affection that they have to conform in everything to this first Monastery and to preserve by this means the holy conformity between us”. The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that this is her masterpiece and that it is now unavailable . ( https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08282c.htm )

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605J. Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, de Chantal, Saint (1572-1641).

Meditations pour les solitudes annuelles, tirées de plusieurs petits memoires treuvez écrits de la sainte main de n. b. p. et dressées pour les Soeurs de ce premier monastere de la Visitation d’Annecy

Paris Chez Piget  1646

Octavo 17 x 11 Cm. Signatures:A-S8 (lacking S8 presumed blank). It is bound in contemporary full vellum,.There is an ownership note, “this book and MON re of the Visitation Ste Marie de MONACO” (maybe) The meditations are very readable and inspiring.

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611J. Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, de Chantal, Saint

Vive Jesus. Responses de nostre Très-Honorée et digne Mere Jeanne Françoise Fremiot, sur les regles, constitutions, et coustumier de nostre ordre de la Visitation Sainte-Marie, enrichies en cette seconde édition d’une table … avec des notes …

A Paris : [publisher not identified], 1665.

Octavo 17 x 11 Cm. Signatures: π²,a-h⁸/⁴, I⁸ k². A-Z8 Aa-Zz8 Aaa-Fff⁸/3, (lacking Fff4 persumed blank,followed by two typed leaves of index) This book is represented in OCLC by only the SMU copy.

Bound in full contemporary vellum.

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Here we have a nice copy of a third edition of Maupas’ Biography of which there are no copies recorded in the U.S.

606J.   Maupas du Tour, Henri Couchon de, Bp. 1600-1680. 

La Vie de la vénérable mère Jeanne Françoise Frémiot, fondatrice, première mère et religieuse de l’ordre de la Visitation de Saincte Marie, par Messire Henry de Maupas Du Tour

A Paris : de l’Imprimerie d’Antoine Vitré ..1674.

Quarto 21.5 x 15 cm. Signatures: a4 e1-3 (leaf e4 lacking, blank? no lacuna) A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, aaa-Zzz4, Aaaa-Dddd4,Eeee3 (no lacuna Eeee4 blank?) Ffff4. This is bound in full contemporary sheep.

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613J

Maupas du Tour, Henri Couchon de, Bp. 1600-1680.

La Vie de la vénérable mère Jeanne Françoise Frémiot, fondatrice, première mère et religieuse de l’ordre de la Visitation de sainte Marie, par Messire Henry de Maupas du Tour ..Huictéme édition revuë et corrigée.

Paris : S. Piget, 1667

Octavo 18 x 11Cm. Signatures: ã6 e´6 A-Z8 (lacking O3 ,the last text leaf of part 1) Aa-Zz8, Aaa-Ddd8. Bound in later boards boards.Eighth edition.

SO in conclusion there are three books in this collection with no other copies in the US and Two books know in two other copies and one represented in one US Library. All of these books are only known in France or the US . They give us a very crisp picture of the life and aspiration of by all accounts a very capable inspire and intelligent person at the first half of the seventeenth century.

There price for this collection is $6,000.