Antique c.1755 Set of French Books, "Memoires de Mme. de Maintenon", Illustrated
Books 1 and 2 in the complete set of "Memoires pour Servir a' l'Histoire de Madame de Maintenon", published in Amsterdam in 1755, with leather covers intact and gold embossed and ornate backs making the books not just interesting to read, but also beautiful to display. Mme de Maintenon (born 27, Nov, 1635, perhaps in prison) was the wife of the Marquis de Maintenon, and was prior to her marriage, Francoise d'Aubigne, granddaughter of Agrippa d'Aubigne, a well-known Protestant General, poet, and close friend of Henry VIII of England. Her father, Huguenot Constant d'Aubigne, was imprisoned for conspiring against Cardinal Richelieu, married the jailer's daughter, who was mother to this beauty. You can learn more about her via Google, so I won't go on and on here. The books have numerous intaglio copper plate engraved illustrations that are suitable for framing. I haven't read these, and they're from my big collection of antique books we've got crated for lack of bookshelves in this house. Sixteen years here by now, I'm not likely to build bookshelves and will begin to sell my collection. This set is both beautiful and promises to be a lively tell-all memoire by a woman from the time of Louis XIV - XV's reign and Court. Illustrations of Mme Maintenon as a young woman show her to have been quite beautiful, and one can only wonder what adventures she's telling within the pages. The opening chapter begins, "The marquis de Richelieu pardone' ", an event from very early 1700s, so her memoires go back to the time of Louis XIV, who died in 1715. I've kept this thinking I would read the books but it's not so likely at this stage and I may as well share them. She died in 1719, so this publication is posthumous.
Very good condition for age and type, the leather bindings are complete and not loose at the spine, though there is some definite age to them and one can see it mostly on those leather covers. The pages are fine cotton rag, handmade paper of the time, and pages are in very good condition without staining. The book numbers 264 pages for volume 1 and 288 for volume 2. It would appear her memoires go on to other volumes, though I have only 2. A few illustrations, some with crests, so she was a member of society, titled family. Books measure 6 3/4" x 4" and each is approximately 1 1/2" thick.
Item ID: 911bookset
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