Notice et souvenirs biographiques du comte Van der Duyn de Maasdam et du baron de Capellen, recueillis, mis en ordre et publiés par leur ami

Rare first edition (cf. Tulard 275 and 1453).

Contemporary half tan goatskin binding, spine with four false raised bands decorated with gilt chains and a central fleur, gilt initials at foot, marbled paper boards, corners rubbed and canvas-tipped, late 19th-century binding.

Scattered foxing.

The only edition, extremely scarce as issued in a small print run and not offered commercially, like most of the works of the Dutch historian Sirtema van Grotestins (1791–1874), who was based in France.

The two figures whose memoirs he published were Dutchmen of contrasting political destinies: while the former refused to serve Louis Bonaparte, the latter went so far as to join his ministry; in fact, references to the imperial period remain limited, the greater part relating to the policy of William I, King of the Netherlands, and its failure following the Belgian Revolution of 1830.

Bound at the end is a review of the work by Saint-Marc Girardin, consisting of an extract from the Journal des débats of 23 October 1852. N.p., n.d. [Paris, 1852], 11 pp.

Provenance: copy from the library of the Belgian diplomat André de Kerchove de Denterghem (1885–1945), bearing his bookplate and his gilt monogram A.K.D. stamped at the foot of the spine.