It may be supposed that numerous illustrated editions have been published of a work so celebrated as the _Heptameron_, which, besides furnishing scholars with a favourite subject for research and speculation, has, owing to its perennial freshness, delighted so many generations of readers. Such, however, is not the case. Only two fully illustrated editions claim the attention of connoisseurs. The first of these was published at Amsterdam in 1698, with designs by the Dutch artist, Roman de Hooge, whose talent has been much overrated. To-day this edition is only valuable on account of its comparative rarity. Very different was the famous edition illustrated by Freudenberg, a Swiss artist--the friend of Boucher and of Greuze--which was published in parts at Berne in 1778-81, and which among amateurs has long commanded an almost prohibitive price. The Full-page Illustrations to the present translation are printed from the actual copperplates engraved for the Berne edition by Longeuil, Halbou, and other eminent French artists of the eighteenth century, after the designs of S. Freudenberg. There are also the one hundred and fifty elaborate head and tail pieces executed for the Berne edition by Dunker, well known to connoisseurs as one of the principal engravers of the _Cabinet_ of the Duke de Choiseul. The Portrait of Queen Margaret placed as frontispiece to the present volume is from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Ernest A. Vizetelly. London, 1893. _Explanation of the Initials appended to the Notes_. B.J...Bibliophile Jacob, i.e. Paul Lacroix. D.....F. Dillaye. F.....Félix Frank. L.....Le Roux de Lincy. M.....Anatole de Montaiglon. Ed....E. A. Vizetelly. _MARGARET OF ANGOULÊME, QUEEN OF NAVARRE._ I. _Louise of Savoy; her marriage with the Count of Angouleme-- Birth of her children Margaret and Francis--Their father’s early death--Louise and her children at Amboise--Margaret’s studies and her brother’s pastimes--Marriage of Margaret with the Duke of Alençon--Her estrangement from her husband-- Accession of Francis I.--The Duke of Alençon at Marignano-- Margaret’s Court at Alençon--Her personal appearance--Her interest in the Reformation and her connection with Clement Marot--Lawsuit between Louise of Savoy and the Constable de Bourbon._ In dealing with the life and work of Margaret of Angouleme (1) it is necessary at the outset to refer to the mother whose influence and companionship served so greatly to mould her daughter’s career. 1 This Life of Margaret is based upon the memoir by M, Le Roux de Lincy prefixed to the edition of the _Heptameron_ issued by the Société des Bibliophiles Français, but various errors have been rectified, and advantage has been taken of the researches of later biographers.