Journal des choses mémorables advenuës durant tout le Regne de Henry III. Roi de France & de Pologne. Edition nouvelle, augmentée de plusieurs Pièces curieuses, & enrichie de Figures & de Notes pour éclaircir les endroits les plus difficiles

New and rare edition, illustrated with 15 figures by Harrewyn, including 13 portraits. Title page of volume I in red and black. All first editions of this work were published by Marteau (Louis Elsevier); the true address of this one is unknown.
This edition, after consulting copies recorded in libraries, does not always contain the figures, and when it does contain them (the British Library copy), only 13 are counted, without the two figures of the clement priest, and the one integrated in Les Sorcelleries de Henry de Valois. Furthermore, the notice to the binder shows only 12 portraits. All these figures are contained in volume I, volume II being occupied by the remarks of Duchat and Denys Godefroy and numerous texts that did not appear in previous editions.
Contemporary full marbled blonde sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Beige morocco title label. Upper joint of volume I cracked at head. Upper joint of volume II cracked at head and foot. Lower joint of volume II cracked.
Collection of violently satirical and critical texts on Henry III, the queen mother, Queen Margot and the court; the whole originally formed in the 1621 enterprise only a few texts gleaned from Pierre de l'Estoile's notebooks by Louis Servin. Pierre de L'Estoile (1546-1611), Secretary to the King and Grand Audiencier of the Chancellery of France, was witness to all the events and intrigues of the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV. The number of texts was increased in numerous editions, letters of Henry IV, the Discours merveilleux (on Catherine de Medici, by Charles Estienne). The interest, naturally historical, of all these texts, often contemporary with the League, is the same as that found in the Satyre Ménipée, namely that the quality of the texts was due to great writers, such as D'Aubigné. Magistrate and secretary to the king, Pierre de l'Estoile began at the death of Charles IX the writing of his daily registers. These were not intended for publication, but they constitute today a precious testimony on the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV. Related in chronological order, the facts are seen according to contemporary public opinion and reveal the author's opinions, such as his rejection of religious fanaticism or his love of Letters (his library was one of the most considerable in Paris).