Abraham Van VICQUEFORT
Memoires touchant les ambassadeurs, et les ministres publics. Par M.L.P.
Chez Pierre du Marteau|à Cologne 1677|8.50 x 14 cm|relié
First edition, under initials L.M.P. for "le ministre prisonnier". Title page with sphere.
Contemporary full marbled brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Brown sheep title-label. Slight lack at foot. One corner slightly bumped. Good copy, perfectly fresh.
In his memoirs written in Holland where he found refuge, Wicquefort, diplomat and intellectual, takes up his pen to defend himself against accusations of high treason which earned him a sentence of life imprisonment. Famous diplomat, first in the service of Mazarin, then imprisoned for a writing on the relations of young Louis XIV with Mazarin's niece, he finds refuge in Holland where he will inform France of the actions of foreign diplomats and ambassadors. In 1675 the Williamson Affair emerges: Wicquefort is accused of high treason after having sold secret dispatches to the ambassador of the English Crown, Sir Williamson. He is arrested on March 25th and taken to prison. In 1676, he is condemned to life imprisonment after a resounding trial and to the confiscation of his goods. It is during his stay in prison that he writes these memoirs on diplomats, ministers, ambassadors and law in Europe. Wicquefort will manage to escape from prison in 1679.
Contemporary full marbled brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Brown sheep title-label. Slight lack at foot. One corner slightly bumped. Good copy, perfectly fresh.
In his memoirs written in Holland where he found refuge, Wicquefort, diplomat and intellectual, takes up his pen to defend himself against accusations of high treason which earned him a sentence of life imprisonment. Famous diplomat, first in the service of Mazarin, then imprisoned for a writing on the relations of young Louis XIV with Mazarin's niece, he finds refuge in Holland where he will inform France of the actions of foreign diplomats and ambassadors. In 1675 the Williamson Affair emerges: Wicquefort is accused of high treason after having sold secret dispatches to the ambassador of the English Crown, Sir Williamson. He is arrested on March 25th and taken to prison. In 1676, he is condemned to life imprisonment after a resounding trial and to the confiscation of his goods. It is during his stay in prison that he writes these memoirs on diplomats, ministers, ambassadors and law in Europe. Wicquefort will manage to escape from prison in 1679.
€400