1728 bound for Madame de Pompadour - Roussets Recueil Superb 25-vol. armorial bindings / rare historical work Start Price USD 1.00 Current Price USD 1,375.00 Time Left - Bid Count 4 Buy It Now Price USD 12,500.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, October 04, 2008 End Time Tuesday, October 14, 2008 Location Athens, Georgia See more about '1728 bound for Madame de Pompadour - Roussets Recueil' Description   Rare 25-volume set of historical documents, treaties and political analysis from the Treaty of Utrecht to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle beautifully bound for Madame de Pompadour published 1728-1755.                             Rousset de Missy, Jean (1686-1762). Recueil historique d'actes, négociations, mémoires et traitéz. Depuis la Paix d'Utrecht jusqu'à celle d'Aix-la-Chapelle ... Tome I [.. Tome XXI et Dernier].. Printed variously in the Hague and Amsterdam, by Scheurleer, Gosse, Uytwerf and Arkstee, 1728-1755. 25 vols, of which 4 supplement. Bound in full marbled calf, triple gilt borders, richly gilt decorated flat spines, edges red. Original silk page markers. Marbled endpapers. Splendid set in armorial bindings of the Marquise de Pompadour. This set was lot 2605 in the sale of her library in 1765. Very good condition overall. Rare complete set of this important collection of more than 550 historical documents. Includes all the peace treaties in the period covered, as well as dozens of preliminary documents, convention proceedings, alliance agreements, etc. The treaties and other documents cover the period 1714-1748, from the Treaty of Utrecht to the second treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, with a few additional treaties from earlier years by way of background information. The documents are presented together with a historical explication and narrative summarizing the context for each treaty etc. Rousset was born into a protestant family which fled France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He served for a while in the Dutch army, then opened in the Hague a school for well-born young men. He also became proprietor and editor of the Mercure Historique et Politique of The Hague for many years. In addition, he was official historiographer of the Prince of Orange and later, as the title pages for the last few volumes of this set indicate, "Conseiller de la Chancellerie Impériale de toutes les Russies." This is his best-known work. Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) is one of the most famous courtesans in French royal history, and was mistress of Louis XV. She had a strong interest in literature, and left an extensive library which was auctioned off after her death. Although all books from Madame de Pompadour's library with her armorial bindings are highly sought after, the present set is of particular interest, given her own active involvement (mostly behind the scenes) in international negotiations, in particular those for the second treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) which occupy the last volumes of the set. She hurried these negotiations along in order to keep the king close to her in Versailles where her influence over him was greatest. As Chambers' Encyclopedia notes: "The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, was very much due to the entreaties of Madame de Pompadour, whose influence the Empress Elizabeth of Russia secured by bribes and flatteries. France gained nothing by this war; but her people were ruined, and her navy destroyed." As a result, the treaty made her rather unpopular for a while among the French public. Rousset's project was initially intended to encompass just 3 volumes, with documents from the Peace of Utrecht (1713) to the aftermath of the Congress of Cambray in mid-1727. Public interest made him continue it volume by volume, however. A note to the reader in volume 21, the final volume, reads: "Au Public. Enfin! voici le vingt-uniéme & dernier Volume de mon Recueil... Il renferme plus de 550 Piéces authentiques qui pouront servir de preuves incontestables à differentes Epoques de l'histoire de notre tems (sic), pendant environ trente-six années..." (To the public: Finallly! Here is the twentyfirst and final volume of my collection...) Interestingly, in this final note, Rousset also takes a pretty serious swipe at Voltaire, his more famous contemporary, whom he judges a great poet but a terrible historian, whose work contains lots of "inventions" (i.e. essentially lies). Numerous documents in this collection are of interest as Americana, covering some of the negotiations and diplomatic exchanges in North America between the French and the English, as well as occasionally the Spanish. Not least, the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which concludes the set involved the restitution by the British of the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in Canada, a concession that was much resented by the British colonists in New England. Various volumes contain printed tables in the text; in addition there are 4 folding tables hors-texte (2 in vol. 7, 1 each in vol. 7.3 and vol. 10) as well as one folding map, in vol. 7.2. All volumes have been collated and are complete. Several of the volumes contain bookseller's catalogues at the end. The final volume contains two extensive indexes: chronological and by subject. A very attractive set of this rare and interesting title. No other complete sets are currently available from any online booksellers. Condition: A few volumes have some light damage to spine ends and edges, as can be seen on the pictures. On volume 6, the rear board is split from the spine, hanging on by the cords. Overall, the bindings are in very good condition. A few volumes have some foxing at the beginning and end of the volume. Otherwise the text is clean and clear throughout. In the final volume, conjugate leaves d2.d7 have a clean cut into the bottom half, which may have been in the paper prior to the printing. In any case, the mistake was noticed right after the printing, and duplicate copies of these two leaves have been inserted (a bit out of place, between pp. 98-99). I hope the pictures adequately answer any other questions you may have. If not, feel free to contact me by e-mail. Please check out my other current auctions. Payment, shipping &c Buyer pays shipping (incl. delivery confirmation) as well as insurance, if the latter is desired. Payment by money orders/cashier's check, wire. 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