Memoires du Cardinal de Retz

Second edition. Rare counterfeit of the first edition of extraordinary rarity published in Nancy in 1717. This edition was also issued in Cologne by David Roger, who appears to be a fictitious publisher. Title pages in red and black, unlike the Cologne edition. It should be noted that the gaps in early editions of the Memoirs were never filled until 1836; they were caused partly by crossed-out passages and partly by leaves torn from the manuscript.
Contemporary full brown sheep bindings. Jansenist spines with raised bands. Red morocco title and volume labels. The spines are darker. Rubbing. A tiny wormhole at the foot of volume I, as well as on the upper joint at the head. Good copy.
Paul de Gondi wrote his memoirs at the request of his friends, during his exile, around the age of sixty (around 1675-1677), and composed the autobiography of a politician during a period of civil war, the Fronde. Not only a historical testimony of the first order, the work stands among the literary monuments of the 18th century memoirs and other autobiographies; through its alert, precise style, that of a man of action and intrigue with remarkable intelligence and political ambition always alert (always ready to ally with those who had betrayed him the day before). His memoirs would constitute revenge and his final resort of ambition.
Manuscript ownership inscription at the bottom of the title page: A. Germain, curé de Reilhac.