Histoire des guerres civiles de France

2 folio volumes of: I/ (2) blank leaves, (2) leaves for the author’s portrait and 1 frontispiece, (14) leaves, 654 pp., (1) leaf, (2) blank leaves; II/ (2) blank leaves, (1) leaf, pp. 655 to 1281, 51 pp., (2) blank leaves.

Red morocco, double gilt fillet border in the Duseuil style on covers decorated with fleur-de-lys at the corners, gilt armorial bearings stamped in the center, raised bands on spine decorated with fleur-de-lys, decorated edges, gilt inner roll, all edges gilt. Contemporary binding.

365 x 250 mm.

The great story of the French Wars of Religion.

Precious and very beautiful copy bearing the arms of La Grande Mademoiselle.

Davila, Henri-Catherin. History of the Civil Wars of France. Containing all the most memorable events, under the reign of four Kings, François II, Charles IX, Henri III & Henri IV…

Paris, P. Rocolet, 1657.

The superb copy of the Duchess of Montpensier, known as La Grande Mademoiselle (1627-1693), bound with her arms.

Third edition, revised and expanded.

This French edition, rare, remained unknown to Brunet and Deschamps.

Henri-Catherin Davila was born on October 30, 1576 in Sacco, a village in the territory of Padua. He became famous for his History of the Civil Wars of France. Very knowledgeable about the Wars of Religion, he himself says, “he was present, in 1588, at the opening of the States of Blois and so close to the king that he distinctly heard all his speech. ” The following year, the queen, Catherine de’ Medici, his patron, died and Henri III was assassinated. Despite Henri IV's conversion, the civil war still continued. Davila distinguished himself in several encounters.

He never ceased to work, in his spare time, on the great work he had undertaken and published it in fifteen books, under this title: “Historia delle guerre civili di Francia di Henrico Caterino Davila nella quale si contengono le operationi di quattro re, Francesco II, Carlo IX, Henrico III et Henrico IV, cognominato il grande ”, Venice, Tommaso Baglioni, 1630, in-4.

“There is only one opinion regarding the merit of Davila as a writer. His style, free from the vices that prevailed in his time, while not as pure as that of Guicciardini, is more concise, tighter, and shines at the same time with admirable ease. His way of recounting, of arranging events, of linking them together, of introducing his characters, making them act and speak, describing places, cities, battlefields, feats of arms, assemblies, councils, the conduct of negotiations, is no less praiseworthy than his style. He appears to have taken great care to know the truth, to have drawn it from reliable sources, and to have generally told it frankly.

But this frankness could not help but be sometimes altered by his position and his particular relationships, by the prejudices of his country and his century. An Italian of that time could not strike a fair balance between Catholics and Protestants; a man who owed the fortune of his sister, of his brother, and the beginning of his own to Catherine de’ Medici, to whom even his first name reminded him that he had been, so to speak, dedicated from birth, could not be an impartial judge of that queen” (Michaud).

Superb volumes featuring an allegorical plate, a portrait of the author, vignettes and initials, all remarkably engraved on copper by Grégoire Huret.

Precious and very beautiful contemporary morocco binding bearing the arms of the Duchess of Montpensier, Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orléans (1627-1693), known as “La Grande Mademoiselle,” daughter of Gaston d’Orléans and cousin of Louis XIV.

“The books of the Duchess of Montpensier rarely appear at public auctions and we know of only a few in private collections…” (E. Quentin-Bauchart).

Provenance: libraries of Radziwill (1866, no. 1507), Mortimer L. Schiff (II, 1938, no. 746) and Sir Abdy (1975, no. 79).