Mémoire historique et politique sur la Louisiane. (French Edition) by Charles Gravier comte de Vergennes (Creator) - 2012-02-22

Paris: Chez LePetit jeune, libraire, 1802. First edition. Contemporary speckled calf, gilt title and decoration on spine, marbled endpapers. A very good copy, rebacked with original backstrip laid down, edge wear, some leaves browned, occasional minor dampstain.. Engraved portrait frontis, xxiv, [25]-315 pp. (with half title). Sm. 8vo. Includes six items covering: Louisiana (and Canada), p. [25]-181; India (l'Indostan), p. [183]-228; Haiti (Saint-Domingue), p. [229]-239; Corsica (Corse), p. [241]-251; Guiana (Guyane), p. [253]-272; and "Lettre de M. le chevalier Turgot, a M. le duc de Choiseul. Paris, le 10 octobre 1765", p. [273]-300, with each section having separate half titles except for the last. Vergennes was a French diplomat serving as Foreign Minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, who helped to conclude a treaty with the American Colonies. The first section on Louisiana and Canada was probably written about 1777, published only after France had reclaimed Louisiana but shortly… Read More

Paris: Lepetit jeune, An X. – 1802., 1802. 8vo. pp. xxiv, [25]-315. with half-title. engraved frontis. portrait. contemporary quarter roan, gilt back (little rubbed, some light foxing & browning). First Edition. The memoir on Louisiana, which includes extensive discussion of Canada, occupies pp. 25-181. Vergennes, a French statesman and diplomatist, was minister for foreign affairs under Louis XVI. During the American Revolutionary War he concluded a treaty of alliance with the United States against England. Dionne II 914. Gagnon II 2221. Sabin 98971. Streeter III 1573. TPL 6808.. 1st Edition. Hardcover.

n.p. [Paris], 1787. One page on sheet of watermarked stationery. Small folio. Old folds, slight soiling and a couple of small stains, but sound and quite legible. One page on sheet of watermarked stationery. Small folio. Vergennes to Louis XVI, with a Note from the King. The Comte de Vergennes (1717 - 1787), diplomat and statesman, was Louis XVI's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1774. It was Vergennes' policy during the American Revolution to provide the American rebels with financial and military support, in the hopes of weakening Britain's dominance in North America; and It was Vergennes, too, who conducted the negotiations with Franklin, Adams, and Jay culminating in the Treaty of Paris. Vergennes' policy of supporting a republican revolution, and its enormous cost to France, are generally cited as the major causes of the French Revolution. One could stretch a point and argue that Vergenness, more than any single individual, was responsible for his King's downfall and eventual execution. The… Read More