Duel.- Mérode (Richard de) La Justification du Seigneur Richard de Merode Seigneur de Frentzen, touchant sa querelle avecq le Seigneur Don Roderigue de Benavides, collation: A-Q⁴, Roman type, title with very small woodcut ornament, 2 full-page woodcuts depicting Benavides wearing his full regalia, folding woodcut plate of the offending breastplate, some spotting or light foxing, occasional light staining, lightly browned, 19th century blind-stamped calf over wooden boards in an Gothic style, joints starting, but holding firm, rubbed and scuffed, 4to (191 x 131mm), Mantua, ?Venturino Ruffinelli, 1560.

⁂ The extremely rare first edition in French of Merode's Giustificazione, which outlines the history and arguments surrounding a duel, which in fact never took place and for which both parties claimed victory. The quarrel began when Benavides having accepted the challenge was nominator of weapons and proposed that he wear a breastplate. Mérode strongly objected to this, as it would offer his opponent greater protection. The arguments on the day of the duel lasted over an hour and ended with Mérode declaring Benavides a coward and himself victor. The present work continues the arguments and justifications for Mérode's position, with the woodcuts depicting Benavides's disputed armour.

Literature: Not in Adams or EDIT 16.