Pierre de Ronsard

In addition to the poem dedicated to Villeroy shown above and the sonnet in honor of Madeleine, Ronsard addressed an “Autumn Hymn” to Claude II de Laubespine and wrote a eulogy for Claude III de Laubespine. He depended on the family for his livelihood as a man of letters. A king could grant a pension to a favored poet, but court officials sometimes intervened to expedite the payment. They might also supplement the royal largesse with gifts of their own. All of Ronsard’s poems dedicated to the Laubespine family are present in this edition. A stately two-volume folio, it is an unusually ambitious publication with extensive commentaries and engraved portraits of notables who figure in the poetry.