Mémoires de Henri-Charles de La Tremoille, prince de Tarente

First edition, relatively rare. Title page in red and black. This is the only early edition of these memoirs.
Near-contemporary half speckled brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with fillets.
Henri Charles de la Tremoille is the 4th Duke of Thouars and Duke of La Trémoille, although he died before his father. He began his career with his uncle in Holland, the Prince of Orange. In 1651, he opposed Cardinal Mazarin and supported the Prince of Condé during the Fronde. He was arrested and imprisoned in Amiens in 1656. These memoirs are not merely an account of the events of the Fronde; they are also a political portrait of the high nobility staging itself, since this is an autobiographical work (whose original manuscript is held by the Bibliothèque Nationale). Father Griffet, responsible for the 1767 edition, would have deliberately published these memoirs to prevent the return to favor of the La Tremoille family. What the Duke of La Tremoille offers his children, since he announces that he writes essentially for them, is an example of life; addressed to his contemporaries, it is a political message.