Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foix ARCQ

First edition, rare, of the only two volumes published of this ambitious Histoire générale des guerres, printed in Paris by the Imprimerie royale in 1756 and 1758. Conceived as a work in three great periods extending from the earliest times to 1748, the project was never continued beyond these two volumes devoted to Armenia and the peoples of Asia Minor. The first volume is illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece and a large folding genealogical table.

Rare first edition of this literary hoax, spuriously attributed by the translator to Cadmus of Miletus in a lengthy explanatory preface. Illustrated with a frontispiece after Cochin.
Contemporary full blond calf binding. Spine gilt-tooled between raised bands. Red morocco title label. Headcap partly worn and upper joint split at the head. Surface abrasions to the boards.