MAYER (Charles-Joseph de): Vie publique et... - Lot 197 - Richard Maison de ventes

Lot 197
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MAYER (Charles-Joseph de): Vie publique et... - Lot 197 - Richard Maison de ventes
MAYER (Charles-Joseph de): Vie publique et privée de Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, ministre d'État ; discours couronné par l'Académie d'Amiens, le 25 août 1788. Paris, Maradan, 1789. One volume. 12.5 by 18.5 cm. One portrait-(8)-226 pages, plus one errata leaf. Contemporary full speckled basane, 5-rib spine, ornate caissons, brown title-piece, double gilt fillet framing the boards, roulette on the edges. Very good condition. Small light wetness in the upper margin of the first 20 leaves and the last 4 leaves, not serious. Light staining on the inner margin of the first two leaves. First edition. Very rare with frontispiece, most copies lacking it. Monglond I-col. 662; Conlon 89: 9920; Dictionnaire des vies privées, p. 415, no. 141. "This academic eulogy essentially retraces Vergennes' political career and, through it, the diplomatic history of Europe. It evokes his beginnings under Louis XV with his uncle Chavigny, his diplomatic sojourns in Trier, Hanover, Constantinople, etc., his appointment to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs (1774) and then Head of the Royal Council of Finance (1783). [...] The dedicatory epistle "To the King", dated May 6, 1789, indicates what was at stake in this undertaking: the aim was to clear Vergennes of the slanderous accusations that he had outrageously enriched himself in his ministry: great emphasis was therefore placed on his disinterestedness: supporting documents were provided." (Dictionary of Private Lives).
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