The Memoirs of the Duke de La Rochefoucault. Containing the private intrigues for obtaining the regency after the death of Louis the Thirteenth, King of France, the wars of Paris, and Guienne, the imprisonment of the princes. Cardinal Mazarin's letter to Monsieur de Brienne. Articles agreed upon by His Royal Highness and Monsieur le Prince, for the Expulsion of Cardinal Mazarin. An apologie for the Duke of Beaufort, memoirs of Monsieur de la Chastre.

First edition in English; 8vo (18 x 11.5 cm); ownership inscription in pen to title verso, 1f. ads to rear, title a little browned, light waterstain to margin of quire U, sprung endpapers; contemporary mottled calf, covers ruled in blind, later gilt-rules and contrasting morocco lettering-piece to spine, marbled edges, abraded with areas neatly restored with leather in-fill, a little rubbed, very good; 436, [12]pp. The first edition in English of the Mà moires de M. D.L.R. sur les brigues à la mort de Louys XIII (1662). Scarce. La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) began writing his memoirs whilst recovering from a head-injury sustained at the battle of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine in Paris in 1652. They survive as an important record of life at the court of Louis XIII, the infamous Cardinal Mazarin's rise to power, and the period of aristocratic discontent that culminated in the Fronde rebellion of 1648-1653. The Mà moires were initially circulated privately, before their unauthorised publication in 1662. La Rochefoucauld disowned this book, and the modern academic consensus is that 'Less than half the work is by him, and that very defective. The "Wars of Paris" is spurious; the "Retreat of the Duke de Longueville" (pp 113-128) is by Saint-Evremond; the "Apologie for the Duke de Beaufort" is by Guillaume Girard' (ESTC). ESTC R12738.…