Beschreibung:

SULLY, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of (1560-1641). Memoires des sages et royales oeconomies d’estat, domestiques, politiques et militaires de Henry le Grand . Amsterdam [vols 1-2]: Alethinosgraphe de Clearetimelee and Graphexechon de Pistariste [i.e. Château de Sully], n.d. [but 1638-1640]; and Paris [vols 3-4]: Augustin Courbé, 1662.
SULLY, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of (1560-1641). Memoires des sages et royales oeconomies d’estat, domestiques, politiques et militaires de Henry le Grand . Amsterdam [vols 1-2]: Alethinosgraphe de Clearetimelee and Graphexechon de Pistariste [i.e. Château de Sully], n.d. [but 1638-1640]; and Paris [vols 3-4]: Augustin Courbé, 1662. 4 volumes in 3, 2º (vols 1-2: 320 x 210mm; vols 3-4: 340 x 220mm). With errata leaf in vol. 2 and blank in vol. 4. Publisher’s device on each title, device in vols 1-2 handcoloured, typographic headpieces. (Repaired tear in first title, some wear to title device in vols 1-2 where handcolouring adhered to facing leaf.) 17th-century red morocco probably by Luc-Antoine Boyet, covers with gilt triple fillet, spines with raised bands and gilt in compartments, edges sprinkled red (two spine caps with small chips, corners lightly rubbed). Provenance : Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise (pencilled shelf mark C.P.T.3.E.25). A SUPERB COMPLETE SET IN FIRST EDITION BOUND BY BOYET, FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE PRINCE OF SOUBISE. True first, clandestine edition of the first two parts, which were privately printed at the author’s château by the Auxerre printer Jacques Bouquet, who was specifically commissioned for this work. Parts III and IV, also in first edition, were published more than twenty years later by Augustin Courbé, now openly and with a privilege. These memoirs of Henri IV’s minister are of great value for the study of the history and economics of the period. A Huguenot, the Duke of Sully played a key role in reorganising French public finances and building a strong centralised administration. This superb copy, bound by Luc Antoine Boyet at the end of the 17th century, is from the library of Charles, Duke of Rohan, Prince of Soubise (1715-1787), with his characteristic pencilled shelf mark. After a military career, Rohan was appointed maréchal de France in 1758, and became a member of the conseil du roi in 1759. A close friend of Louis XV, he remained a minister under Louis XVI, until 1786. As a book-collector, Rohan greatly enlarged the library he inherited from his uncle the Cardinal de Rohan, adding ‘une énorme quantité d'ouvrages remarquables par leur intérêt, leur rareté et leur valeur’ (Olivier, Hermal & Roton, pl. 2034). His library was auctioned in 1788, shortly after his death: a large part of it was acquired by the brother of Louis XVI, the Comte d'Artois, who later gave it to the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, now part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Complete copies of Sully’s memoirs in first edition and in a uniform contemporary binding such as this are very rare – a rarity further enhanced by the provenance with a minister to two French kings. Soultrait, 17th Century 302.