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Memoires de M. du Gué-Trouin, chef d'escadre des armés de S.M.T.C. et Grand-Croix de l'Ordre Militaire de S. Louis.

DUGUAY-TROUIN, René.

  • Publisher: Amsterdam, Chez Pierre Mortier, 1730.
Amsterdam, Chez Pierre Mortier, 1730.. FIRST EDITION. 3 works in 1 volume. 8°, contemporary quarter calf over decorated paper-covered boards (corners worn); spine with raised bands in four compartments, contemporary paper lettering piece in compartment nearest head (some cracks to paper), text-block edges sprinkled red. Finely engraved vignettes on *2 and A1 rectos, each slightly less than a half page. Woodcut vignette on title, woodcut initial. Title-page printed in red and black. In fine condition. (4 ll.), 290 pp. *** FIRST, UNAUTHORIZED EDITION of the memoirs of one of the most illustrious French seamen and corsairs. Duguay-Trouin did not wish them published until after his death, and the authorized quarto edition of 1740 lacks many details of the author's youthful adventures, which he suppressed at the request of Cardinal Fleury. In 1710, DuClerc led a French expedition against Rio de Janeiro, but he and the greater part of his force were captured. Duguay-Trouin assembled a larger fleet in the following year and again attacked Rio, occupying the city for some two months. It is interesting to compare Duguay-Trouin's Relation, 1712, with his Memoires, 1730, regarding the attack on the port and city of Rio de Janeiro and the ransacking of the churches' treasures: in the later work he explains at great length how he returned those treasures to the Jesuits. On the expedition against Brazil and the attack on Rio de Janeiro in 1711, see pp. 231-83. *** Borba de Moraes (1983) I, 272-3. Alden & Landis 730/79. Berger, Bibliografia do Rio de Janeiro (1980) p. 149. Mindlin, Highlights 171. Barbier III, 209: incorrectly calling for 2 volumes. Not in Rodrigues, which lists only the 1756 edition, or in Sabin, which lists only the 12° edition of 1740. Not in Welsh or Greenlee Catalogue, which lists an edition of 1740. Not in Bosch. Cf. Le Neprou de Carfort, Duguay-Trouin: Sa maison natale, sa sepulture, les manuscrits de ses Memoires: Documents inédits (St. Brieuc & Paris, 1912). Not located in Jisc. NUC: InU, RPJCB, MeB *** BOUND WITH: LAFAYETTE, Marie Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, Comtesse de. Memoires de la Cour de France pour les années 1688 & 1689 par Madame la Comtesse de La Fayette. Amsterdam: Chez Jean Frederic Bernard, 1731. 12°, title page printed in red & black with engraved vignette; woodcut head- and tailpieces and initial, typographical headpiece. Engraved frontis, 234 pp., (3 blank ll.). FIRST EDITION of these memoirs of the court of Louis XIV. Although the original manuscript covered a much longer time span, only those chapters for 1688 and 1689 escaped destruction after the author's death. Mme de Lafayette (1634-1692) was one of the most important French writers of her age, having invented the modern novel of sentiment with La Princesse de Clèves (1678). * Graesse IV, 71. NUC: ICU, TxU, MU, MH, MnU, ICN, MNS. AND BOUND WITH: [JORDAN, Charles Étienne]. Recueil de litterature, de philosophie, et d'histoire. Amsterdam: Chez François L'Honoré, 1730. 12°, title page printed in red and black with engraved vignette, woodcut initial. Engraved frontispiece, (1 l.), 167, (1) pp., (9 ll.). FIRST and ONLY EDITION of these commentaries on the works of various authors, many of which concern the Jesuits. Included are letters from Leibniz and from the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher. The Kircher letter on pp. 141-3 is addressed to Jean Monrat, dated 12 Feb. 1675, and emphasizes Kircher's pride in being a German. Jordan claims this is the first publication of this document, which he had been given by M. Humbert, minister at Dessau. On pp. 157-67 is a piece on the Cabala supposedly by Kircher, found in the papers of Spanheim. * NUC: MdBJ, CaBVaU, ICU.

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