966J Maupas du Tour, Henri Couchon de ( 1600-1680). Frémyot, Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal, Saint.

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,….

Paris, Simeon Piget , 1658.      Price: $2,800

Page from a book titled 'La Vie de la Venerable Mere Jeanne Francoise Fremiot', detailing the life of Jeanne Francoise Fremiot, founder of the Order of the Visitation of Saint Mary, with a decorative illustration at the bottom.

Octavo 16x 11 cm.  Signatures: å8,e6, A-Z8, Aa-Zz8, Aaa-Ee8  One engraving.  Bound in a contemporary full vellum binding. Vellum a bit soiled, lacks flyleaves,. There are two  paper flaws on leaf 173/4 and 595/6 with minor and mostly marginal paper flaw, affecting two letters. With the book Plate of HubertI Janssenii. With the phrase associated with St. Augustine of Hippo and later St. Anselm of Canterbury.  “Credite ut intelligas et omnia disce” The engraved plate—Christ ‘setting’ His name upon the heart of the saint beneath the words “Set me as a seal upon thy heart… for love is strong as death” (Cant. 8:6)—renders in a single image the aim of the work: the translation of lived example into an interiorized, affective union with Christ.

Henri de Henri de Maupas du Tour (c. 1600–1680), bishop of Le Puy and later Évreux, drew on testimony from the first generation of Nuns of the Visitation to produce a life of Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot de Chantal, helping to define the spiritual character, early traditions, and devotional practices of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary.

This work is organized less as a continuous narrative than as a sequence of moral episodes, tracing Jeanne de Chantal from noble birth through marriage, widowhood, and finally religious life. The table of chapters makes clear the didactic structure: each stage of life is treated as a distinct field of virtue—household governance, obedience, suffering, and spiritual direction—so that the reader encounters not simply a history, but a set of ordered examples.

The work is divided into three parts, the third explicitly devoted to “the practices of her heroic virtues.” Here the narrative gives way to application: the life is no longer simply recounted, but broken into acts of faith, obedience, and devotion, presented as patterns to be imitated. The structure makes clear that the purpose of the book lies not in biography alone, but in the translation of lived example into repeatable practice.

An open book displaying an engraving of Jesus presenting a religious medal to a nun, surrounded by angels, accompanied by text in French about the life of Mother Jeanne-Francoise Fremiot.

“Mets moy comme un cachet sur ton cœur… car l’amour est fort comme la mort”
(Song of Songs 8:6)

An engraving depicting Jesus presenting a heart-shaped medallion to the Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels. The scene includes ornate architecture in the background.
An old page with decorative text featuring Latin phrases, attributed to Huberti Janssenii, including the number '186' at the bottom.

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