First edition printed from the Vatican archives, one of 27 numbered copies on pure linen paper, deluxe copy.
Rare and fine copy.
Commentary by Raymond Ritter.
French translation by Adolphe Van Bever and illustrated with 40 original wood engravings by Louis Jou, one of the numbered copies on Rives vellum.
Half black morocco binding, spine with two thick raised bands set with gilt fillets, imitation white wood paper boards, small foxing to boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, original wrappers preserved, elegant contemporary binding signed by Creuzevault.
Handsome copy in a beautiful Art Deco binding by Creuzevault.
First edition.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Smooth spine richly decorated with ornamental tools and roulettes. Red morocco title and volume labels. The title label reads "Memoire de Torcy" while the title page is anonymous, so the author of these anonymous memoirs must have been well known at the time. Light rubbing. The half-titles of volumes II and III are not present, as in all copies we have consulted, so it is possible that they are not actually missing, and that there was only one half-title for the entire work. Very handsome copy, very fresh.
Armorial bookplate engraved in the 18th century of Louis Francois (1713-1791), Marquis de Monteynard (Languedoc), First Governor of Corsica, Secretary of State for the War Department and Lieutenant General of Burgundy. Vair, a chief gules, charged with a lion naissant or.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Torcy, was an important French diplomat and a key figure in the various international congresses that led to the establishment of the Peace of Utrecht and the end of the War of Spanish Succession. Between the Treaty of Ryswick and that of Utrecht, France lost Acadia (Quebec) and its other American territories, as well as its dream of hegemony over Europe, but gained a relatively lasting peace and the security of its national territory. The three volumes are distributed as follows: I. negotiations with Spain, II, with Holland, III, with England, and for the Treaty of Utrecht.
New edition, after the original published in 1627 under the title: De proxeneta seu De prudentia civili. One frontispiece title.
Copy with the cipher and arms of the Duke and Duchess of Montausier.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Spine decorated with the crowned cipher of the Duke and Duchess of Montausier (repeated 3 times in each compartment). Brown sheep title label. Boards stamped with arms and ciphers in the corners and triple fillet frame. Red edges. Paper browned. Skilful and fine restorations to headcaps, joints and corners. Gilding faded in places. Good copy.
Major figure of the 17th century, Charles de Sainte-Maure was made Duke of Montausier and Peer of France in 1664, and received the appointment as tutor to the Dauphin in 1668. His marriage to the great précieuse of the time, she who was called the incomparable Julie, Julie d'Angennes, was one of the great affairs of his life. It was for her that he composed La guirlande de Julie, a collection of 62 madrigals composed by the most illustrious poets of the time including himself. The Duke of Montausier was finally the model for Molière's Misanthrope, which is still today one of his claims to fame. As for the Duchess, she was portrayed by Madeleine de Scudery in her novel: Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus. They both constitute eminent symbols of the century of Louis XIV.
Jérôme Cardan (or Girolamo Cardana) is one of the great Italian humanists of the Renaissance. His work, Arcana politica (The Science of the World or Civil Wisdom), appeared posthumously, was very successful and went through several editions.
First edition of the French translation of Livy's Roman History by Pierre Du Ryer, historian, member of the French Academy and great translator for the Parisian booksellers of the period. This translation is accompanied by the supplements of Jean Freinsheim, philologist and historiographer to Queen Christina of Sweden, to whom Du Ryer dedicates the work. The edition also includes Florus's complete Summaries at the head of each book. Arms of Louis XIII engraved on the title page, text enhanced with engraved headpieces, initials and tailpieces.
Full calf binding, spine with 6 raised bands, later 18th-century red morocco title-label decorated with an eagle, arms of the Sade family of the Mazan branch, spine with author, title and volume number gilt, raised bands decorated with gilt fillet and compartments decorated with grotesques surrounded by double gilt fillet, gilt fillet on the leading edges. Boards reinforced at the joints with reused parchment visible under the white paper endpapers, probably a notarial deed. Handsome copy representative of the work of Parisian binders of the mid-17th century, found in the great collections of the period.
Fine condition, small dampstains in upper margin not touching the text, small hole with loss of a few letters on p.223, some rare scattered worming and browned leaves, slight bookworm damage.
Rare provenance from the library of the Sade family, of the Mazan branch, inherited by Donatien Alphonse de Sade, the Divine Marquis. The book would have been acquired by Abbé Jacques François Paul Alfonce de Sade, scholar and libertine, probably kept at the château de Saumane during the abbé's lifetime and at his death was transferred to the Sade family collection at the château de Condé after 1814. It has not left the Sade collection since. (Sources: Thibault de Sade, direct descendant of the Marquis)
Manuscript note from the beginning of the second half of the 17th century on the upper pastedowns of each volume. Characteristic indication of public sales of great Parisian libraries in the 17th century with the price in livres tournois and the name of the dealer. On the first volume "20 lt Nicolas [...]", the name is covered in ink with the addition below in a later date by another hand "1658", probably an acquisition date, and on the second volume "30 lt Nicolas [...]" with the addition of the date as on the first volume.
Prestigious provenance.
First Elzevirian edition. with title-frontispiece. Epistle to Cardinal Mazarin. Brunet (Manuel du libraire): "The first edition of this esteemed history is that of Paris, Edme Martin, 1661, but it is not sought after, while this one [...]". There exists a counterfeit of this Elzevier edition, it is less well printed and contains only 514pp.
Full red morocco binding 19th century (ca 1860) signed Belz-Niedrée. Spine with raised bands richly decorated with ornate compartments framed by triple fillets, roll-tooled at foot. Covers with interlace decoration in frame and complex geometric figures. Rich inner border. Gilt edges. Very fresh copy, with a slight yellow dampstain to one corner on the last 10 leaves. Dry stamp on the last endpaper: From G. Gancia. rare books. Kings road bright. 19th century engraved bookplate of D. C. M. and the motto: Advance with courage. This refers to Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks (1820-1894), first Baron Tweedmouth.
Very handsome copy perfectly executed by Belz-Niedrée.
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.
