Renaissance & Modern Times

Third edition stated. The first edition was published in 1671. Printer's device on title page, with fleur-de-lys.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated raised band spine. Brown sheep title-label. One hole at foot. Overall rubbed.
The success of this treatise on civility led to its reprinting more than 15 times until 1730. Written for a friend of the author who wanted to send his son to Court, the work particularly emphasizes respect for etiquette and the behavior that a gentleman should display. The treatise encompasses all activities of a gentleman: cleanliness, dancing, relations with servants, superiors, table manners...

The rare first edition. The letter to the king is preceded by his coat of arms which occupies the facing page. Royal armorial vignette on title.

Contemporary limp vellum binding. Unlettered smooth spine. Good copy.

Curious collection of letters that the author addressed to great figures in order to obtain favors and gratifications from them. Printed without signatures or pagination so as to be able to change the order of the letters and offer the dedication to each of the persons in the letters. 35 letters compose the collection, this one seeming to have been composed for the king, followed by the queen, the prince, and the Dukes.

New edition, but first in this form and under this title. At the end, catalogue of books printed by Jean-Frédéric Bernard.

Contemporary full marbled fawn calf binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title-label. One lack at head. Narrow split to lower joint at head over 1cm. Rubbing. Handsome copy.
These memoirs first appeared as a supplement to the 1729 edition of the Adventures of Baron de Foeneste under the title "Secret History". They are a severe criticism of Henri III and his court and of the Catholics as much as a testimony to the anti-Protestant climate. After the publication of this pamphlet which was banned, d'Aubigné fled to Geneva.
"This edition is much closer to the original manuscript than that of 1729 established by the unscrupulous care of Le Duchat under the title Secret History" (cf. Agrippa d'Aubigné et son temps, p. 64).
Several pieces come to complete Aubigné's Memoirs, those of Frédéric-Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, who was for a long time one of the souls of the Fronde against Richelieu and Louis XIII; they were composed by Aubertin his servant; is also joined a fragment of an account of the court of France by Priolo and the History of Madame de Mucy by Guillaume de Valdory. There is also a letter from Scarron to M. Fouquet written on the occasion of the dispute between Scarron and Gilles Boileau, brother of Nicolas Boileau Despréaux.

Sphere edition, from the Elzevier press. The meaning of the word Maximes is quite removed from the modern sense, it is more closely linked to what governs the interests of Princes, and by which precisely they are bound. The book forms a history of international relations, studying the interests that each nation has over another: France over Flanders, the Holy Empire over France, Denmark over... It is certain that these interests are of a historical, genealogical order... The work by Courtilz de Sandras is an imitation in form of the work by the Duke of Rohan which had appeared previously under the title: Intérêts et maximes des princes et des estats souverains; his book tends to present itself as a sequel, but it is written with greater scope than that of the Duke of Rohan.
Contemporary full blonde calf binding. Decorated raised spine. Blonde calf title-label. P. 34 an area of the page in the margin blacked out, with loss of a few letters. A tear on p. 163 with small lack to lower corner. Handsome copy.

First edition, superbly illustrated with 50 engraved and hand-coloured plates, all numbered and signed by William Ellis. Bilingual text, first in English, followed by the French translation on facing pages. Printed on deluxe wove paper.
English binding. Spine entirely rebacked in chocolate shagreen, decorated with five blind-stamped romantic floral tools. Brown calf boards adorned with a large central lozenge composed of leafy friezes. Blind-stamped border frieze with corner tools, and a second leafy border. Upper board split along the joint and nearly detached, lower joint open at the foot over 5 cm, with a continuing crack of 10 cm though the leather remains closed. Corners heavily worn and exposed. Endpapers reinforced at the centre with green adhesive. Light offsetting from most plates onto the facing leaf. Internally clean and crisp throughout.

New illustrated edition with a portrait as frontispiece, 3 title vignettes, and 41 folding plates. According to Brunet, the first octavo edition following the original quarto published in 1769 of these Commentaries. Title pages printed in red and black.
Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Spine with raised bands, gilt-tooled. Beige morocco title-piece, black basane volume label. Head of volume 2 restored. Surface abrasions on the boards, polished with wax. Traces of rubbing. A handsome copy, the paper of remarkable freshness.
Ex libris with 18th-century armorial bookplate of Biel D. de Lislemont.

New edition, after the original published in 1738.

269 numbered figures at mid-page.
Contemporary full marbled sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Upper joint cracked at head, and a small crack at tail over 0.5cm. 3 corners very bumped and worn. 3 traces of surface wear on lower board. Good copy.
Didactic treatise on Backgammon, a game of Chinese origin that was very popular in Europe under the name of Trictrac, and which features numerous games. The rules of the game remained unchanged until 1931, the date at which the Americans modernized the game rules.

First edition illustrated with 47 charming emblematic figures arranged on 13 plates on fine paper and a title headpiece. Only the title vignette is signed Gaudier. Lacking the frontispiece. Each figure in a medallion features the sun in a dominant position and a symbolic element such as a musical instrument, a landscape, an animal, as well as a Latin motto. Rare printing from Aix-en-Provence.

Late 19th-century Bradel binding in half beige cloth. Smooth spine with dark red shagreen title label running lengthwise. The plates have slightly narrower outer margins than the leaves. Some foxing, particularly on the title page.

First edition. The second part is regarded as rare, since Prussia ordered the manuscript to be seized and the copies burned, although in fact the second part is found in many sets.
Contemporary full mottled brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands richly gilt. Red morocco lettering-piece. Lower headcap partly torn. Abrasion to the lower cover with loss along the joint. Two corners rubbed. A brown stain in the upper margin of p. 49, about 2 cm. Loss in the margin at the corner of p. 144, not affecting the text. Marbled endpaper with a cut along the outer margin. Some gatherings browned. A good copy.

Second edition, a reprint of the first folio edition published in 1756 by the same publisher. A rare edition, illustrated with 40 plates including 4 folding and 16 double-page (arms, costumes, plans, manoeuvres...). Large vignette with coat of arms on the title-page, and 41 ornaments (headpieces, tailpieces). Title-page printed in red and black. At the end, Supplement aux Reveries, with its own title-page; this short addition, spanning only a few pages, contains the corrections made to the original. A two-volume quarto edition appeared in Paris in 1757.
Bound in later full marbled brown calf; a skilful early 20th-century pastiche signed Saingy at foot. Spine with raised bands richly decorated, gilt rolls at head and tail. Red morocco lettering-piece, black morocco date-piece gilt. Rubbing to head- and tailcaps, edges, corners, and lower board. Plate XXXIV has been refolded, having been badly folded. An exceptionally fresh copy, the paper only slightly toned. One leaf misbound among the preliminary pages. A handsome copy.