LES MÉMOIRES DE MESSIRE PHILIPPE DE COMINES, SEIGNEUR D'ARGENTON, CONTENANS L'HISTOIRE DES ROYS LOUYS XI & CHARLES VIII DEPUIS L'AN 1464 JUSQUES EN 1498.
Revues & corrigez sur divers manuscrits, & anciennes impressions. Augmentez de plusieurs traistez, contracts, testaments, autres actes, & de diverses observations. Par Denys Godefroy, Conseiller et Historiographe ordinaire du Roy.
- Paris: Imprimerie Royale (Sébastien Cramoisy), 1649.
- folio (265 x 375 mm)
- full calfskin-covered boards, seven raised bands, gilt ornamentation on spine, title in second compartment
- (56)-572, (11) pages, with two large genealogical tables printed on double-pages
Price: $750.00 other currencies
Order Nr. 138960
The Denys Godefroy edition, with this copy being a somewhat larger paper copy (375 mm tall as opposed to the commonly found 350 mm tall). Small bookplate on front pastedown. Ownership name in ink on recto front free endpaper and ownership notes in ink on the verso of the front free endpaper. Front hinge cracked but firm. Loss of the leather spine in third compartment. Spine age-darkened. Rubbing to extremities. Minor foxing throughout. Dampstaining to title page. Philipe de Comines was a Statesman and one of the most interesting of the old French historians of the Middle Ages. Dibdin says that "no English Historical Collection can be complete without P. de Comines."
A great visionary, Comines (1447 - 1511) noticed and regretted the permanent antagonism between the European nations and aspired to a Europe united by Christianity. He advocated free trade, the reform of the currency and the system of weights and measures as well as the consultation of the States General in order to avoid any despotism. After the first edition was produced by Denis Sauvage in 1552, which marked a notable progress, this edition of 1649 produced by Théodore and Denis Godefroy was a great step forward. They printed at the prestigious Imprimerie Royale installed in the Louvre. In addition to the beautiful typographical quality, it was established on two manuscripts and on the Sauvage edition. Many new lessons appear here for the first time, and the editors attach to the text a valuable compendium of supporting material. this edition of 1649.