Almanach royal année 1756

8vo, contemporary lemon morocco, large gilt dentelle on covers, watercolored coat of arms in green and blue under mica in the center surrounded by a red mosaic morroco border, smooth back decorated with coats of arms, inner border, lining, and pink tabis guards, gilt edges.

211 x 132 mm.

Almanach Royal, année Bissextile M.DCC.LVI (1756), contenant les Naissances des Princes et Princesses de l’Europe. Les Archevêques, Évêques, Cardinaux, et Abbez commandataires. Les Maréchaux de France… les Trésoriers des Deniers royaux, les Payeurs des Rentes et leurs contrôleurs, la Compagnie des Indes, etc.

Paris, Le Breton.

The Royal almanach decorated, mosaic and with watercolored arms of Count of Saint Florentin, duke of La Vrillière (1705-1777).

« Take this same Almanac from 1756, and you will find, in addition to all the high and mighty lords listed on the title page, hospitals, the Hôpital des Petites Maisons with its amusing nomenclature (it contains, according to the note, four items: "the first are the four hundred elderly people who are received there; the second, the insane; the third, those suffering from venereal disease who are treated there; the fourth, those afflicted with ringworm who are cured there"); - the Tontines since 1689 with all its heirs, 1696, 1709, 1733, 1734, the two from 1743, 1744; - the complete list of the King's secretaries since 1702; - bankers “for bills of exchange and remittances from place to place” (note that many are already Swiss or Dutch); - the Royal Censors, important and numerous figures appointed for theology, jurisprudence, natural history, medicine and chemistry, surgery, mathematics, belles-lettres and history, geography, navigation and travel, prints, numbering 105 in total; - the King's Academies for the education of gentlemen; - sworn experts created by edict in 1690; - libraries; - the Doctors of the Faculty of Paris, of the King (many of whom are from the Faculty of Montpellier), of the Queen, of the Dauphin, of the Dauphine, of the Grand Council of the Court, of Parliament, the Doctors and Surgeons of the King at the Châtelet, the Doctors and Surgeons of the King

Surgeons, Masters in the art and science of surgery in the city of Paris, since 1696, Apothecaries since 1703.

Is that all? No, here is more: “The King's public fire engines, to remedy fires, without the public being required to pay anything,” and the “Guidelines for Ceremonies to be observed in the reception of any office or employment, whether it be Robe or Sword.”

Louis Phélypeaux, IV, Count of Saint-Florentin, Marquis, then Duke of La Vrillière, Marquis of Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, son of Louis III, Marquis of La Vrillière, Secretary of State, and Françoise de Mailly, Duchess of Mazarin, Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen, was born on August 18, 1705. He was appointed Secretary of State and Commander and Finances of the King in succession to his father on February 17, 1723, took office upon the latter's death in September 1725, and was put in charge of matters relating to the Reformed Church, the King's household, and Paris. Appointed Commander and Secretary of the King's Orders on August 3, 1736, and elected honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in 1740, the Count of Saint-Florentin was appointed Chancellor to the Queen on February 17, 1743, Minister of State on August 15, 1751, Commander, Chancellor, Keeper of the Seals, and Superintendent of Finance the King's Orders on June 27, 1756, honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in February 1757, Administrator General of the Order of Mount Carmel and Saint Lazarus in July 1757, then Grand Master of that order on May 18, 1758, and finally created Duke of La Vrillière in 1770, at which time he ceased to bear the title of Count of Saint-Florentin; He was a declared opponent of the Protestants and of Choiseul, whom he succeeded on an interim basis as Minister of Foreign Affairs from December 1770 to June 1771. His immense unpopularity forced him to resign and relinquish all his offices in July 1775. He died in Paris on February 27th, 1777.

Provenance : Comte de Saint-Florentin (1705-1777) ; Hans Furstenberg; Otto Schäfer (December 7th, 1995, n° 4).