Mémoires

8 volumes in-12; red morocco, triple gilt fillet around the covers, gilt-stamped coat of arms in the center, spine with raised bands richly decorated in gilt, gilt fillet on edges, inner gilt roll,
gilt edges. Contemporary armorial morocco binding.

164 x 98 mm.

Sully, Maximilien Duke of. Memoirs of Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, principal Minister of Henry the Great. Arranged with remarks.
London, 1767.

Edition revised with remarks by M.L.D.L.D [the Abbé Pierre-Mathurin de l’Écluse des Loges].

The original edition was secretly printed on the presses at the Château de Sully by a printer from Angers in 1638.

The first volume contains the account of events from 1570 up to the beginning of 1601, that is, from the peace that preceded the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre to the king's marriage to Marie de' Medici. The second presents the continuation of events up to the end of the year 1605. The supplement to the work was not published until 1662, under the care of Jean Le Laboureur. The narrative begins at the start of 1606 and ends in February 1611, the time when the duke was dismissed. The “Économies royales” are above all a biography of Sully in the form of a panegyric, an answer to memoirists who sought to minimize his role. It is also a series of attacks against his personal enemies.

The vanity of the former minister, as much as his hatred, are given free rein. In this version, the author appears less intent on recounting the history of his time than on casting himself as the linchpin of Henry IV's reign. Admittedly, he is attached to his king, but in his own manner, in a sort of grumpy, jealous sentiment. Henry IV is present everywhere in his book: he pays him tribute. Yet he does not hesitate to glorify him in order to elevate himself, or to diminish him in order to further raise his own stature. Despite the lack of order and the heaviness of the style, the “Économies royales” represent a collection of documents and details of extreme importance for the history of Henry IV and for that of Sully, right up to the day he ceased to direct the finances and take part in councils. They are of great historical value. Without them, many facts would remain unknown and Sully would be poorly understood, no less than the character of Henry IV. Sully spares no one: Huguenots and Jesuits, Catholics and politicians, friends, enemies, relatives, mistresses, all are subjected to merciless censure.

Finally, it should be remembered that the writing of the printed version and its arrangement took place more than twenty years after the king's death and that it was published under Richelieu. In the 18th century, the Abbé de l’Ecluse revised the text of the “Économies,” replaced the second person with the first, softened exaggerated praises, blunted certain criticisms, analyzed documents, thus transforming Sully’s heavy narration into elegant and pleasant Memoirs.

Precious copy bound with the arms of Marie-Thérèse of Savoy, third daughter of Victor Amadeus III, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia, and Marie-Antoinette-Ferdinande, Infanta of Spain, born in Turin on January 31, 1756. She married on November 16, 1773, at Versailles, her brother-in-law Charles-Philippe, Count of Artois, later Charles X. She died in Gratz (Austria) on June 2, 1805, leaving two sons, the Duke of Angoulême and the Duke of Berry.

Her library, assembled by the care of Félix Nogaret, her secretary, was one of the most important of the period; the books were generally bound in red morocco, with no other ornament than a triple gilt fillet.

Provenance: Marie-Thérèse of Savoy (arms; OHR 2551, tool no. 3); Pierre Bérès (label); Collection of Paul-Louis Weiller (bookplate in each volume: IV. 8 April 2011, no. 695).