Les Mémoires de Martin du Bellay

10 books in 1 folio volume of (12) ff., 616 pp. (6) ff., restoration to the corner of the title page without affecting the text. Red morocco, double Du Seuil style gilt fillet border with large fleur-de-lis in the corners on the boards, gilt stamped coat of arms at center, spine decorated with fleur-de-lis, inner dentelle, gilt edges. Contemporary binding of the royal family.

329 x 219 mm.

Du Bellay, Guillaume and Martin. The Memoirs of Martin du Bellay, Lord of Langey, containing an account of various events that occurred in the Kingdom of France from 1513 until the death of King Francis the First... in which the author has inserted three books and some fragments of the Ogdoads of Guillaume Du Bellay, his brother, revised and corrected for the third edition.
Paris, Pierre le Voirrier for Mathieu Guillemot, 1588.

Rare edition of the Memoirs of Guillaume and Martin Du Bellay covering the entire reign of Francis I and dedicated to King Henry III by René Du Bellay.

The Ogdoads or Huitaines, historical memoirs written in Latin by Guillaume Du Bellay and translated into French at the request of Charles IX, make up Books V, VI, and VII of this collection.

“The Memoirs of Martin du Bellay, brother of Guillaume and Cardinal Jean du Bellay, actually constitute the official history of the reign of Francis I” (Bibliothèque Esmerian).

“Of all the narrative sources on the reign of Francis I, it is the only one that covers the entire reign. Moreover, the quality and rank of the authors, the role they played, the documents they were able to obtain and actually used, make their memoirs a work of the highest historical value” (Bourrilly quoted by Hauser).

“The Memoirs of Guillaume and Martin Du Bellay do not tell everything, but everything they do say is of great interest; the accounts of military events and what we can call the external side of politics leave little to be desired. The criticism that may be leveled at both authors is a certain bias to always put Charles V second to Francis I. Montaigne himself appreciated The Memoirs of Guillaume and Martin Du Bellay with a truth that compels us to quote him here: ‘It is always a pleasure,’ he said, ‘to see things written by those who have tried as they should be conducted.’” (J. Fr. Michaud, Nouvelle collection des mémoires).

Montaigne (Essays, II, X) would analyze on several occasions the work and character of Guillaume Du Bellay as well as his relationship with King Francis I.

Uncle of the poet Joachim Du Bellay, Guillaume Du Bellay, Lord of Langey (1491–1543), was one of the best diplomats of his time and one of the bravest generals of Francis I. As a writer and man of action of the Renaissance, he was admired by François Rabelais. Lord of Langeai, Guillaume du Bellay rendered great service to Francis I; he was no less a good captain than a clever negotiator, and his pen was as skillful as his tongue and his sword. Until 1536, he would be the linchpin of his sovereign’s foreign policy. He played a decisive role in the successful negotiations that led to the Treaty of Cambrai (1529).

Precious and magnificent copy belonging to Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, known as La Grande Mademoiselle, daughter of Gaston d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIII, and granddaughter of Henry IV, of these important memoirs for the military history of the reign of Francis I.

“The Duchess of Montpensier, La Grande Mademoiselle (1627–1693), is generally known only for the rather tumultuous role she played in the events of the Fronde; but alongside the heroine who vied in chivalrous exploits with Madame de Longueville and the Princess of Condé, to impose herself, weapons in hand, on her cousin Louis XIV, the royal husband of her dreams, there was another woman, possessed of a delicate and tender spirit, fond of literature, passionate about beautiful things, and whose books, happily chosen, represent one of the most remarkable collections of the time.

Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans was born at the Louvre in May 1627. Daughter of Gaston d'Orléans and his first wife, Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, who died five days after her birth, she was raised by an estimable and pious governess, but with all the respect inspired by a granddaughter of Henry IV. I love to read good and solid books; trifles bore me, except for poetry, which I love in whatever form, and certainly, I judge such matters as well as if I were learned.

The Duchess of Montpensier was endowed with a brilliant mind. Segrais tells us that her library was the meeting place of artists and poets and that people gathered there, on set days, as at the Marquise de Rambouillet’s.

The books of the Duchess of Montpensier rarely appear in public sales and we know of only a few in the hands of collectors; but the National Library has gathered a fairly important number in its Reserve collection.

The books of La Grande Mademoiselle are bound solidly and with a simplicity that does not exclude elegance. All are uniformly covered in red morocco leather” (E. Quentin-Bauchart, Les femmes bibliophiles de France, Paris, 1886).

The volume then entered the library of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, son of Philippe of France, Regent of France (1674–1723), then of Napoleon I, with the red stamp “Library of the Crown, Versailles” and the crowned imperial eagle.