Mémoires secrets sur l'établissement de la Maison de Bourbon en Espagne, extraits de la Correspondance du Marquis de Louville, gentilhomme de la chambre de Philippe V, et chef de sa maison française

First edition.
Half wine-lees calf binding with corners, circa 1900; skillful pastiche of an 1820 binding. Spine with false flat raised bands decorated with roulettes and fillets. Spine uniformly lightened, without consequence. A handsome copy.
This military man was appointed head of the French Household of Philip V of Spain, the first Bourbon king of Spain (from 1700 to 1703). He would receive a new mission in Spain in 1716, as extraordinary ambassador. During three essential years, everything done at court passed through him. Here is what the Duke of Saint-Simon says about him in his memoirs: "To speak truly, he governed the king and Spain." These memoirs were written during the marquis's retirement and remained in manuscript form.
Raymond Clavreuil bookshop label.