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.

Amsterdam, Chez Pierre Mortier, 1730.. FIRST EDITION. 8°, contemporary cat's-paw calf (worn at extremities, joints weak), spine with raised bands in six compartments, crimson leather lettering piece in second compartment, gilt letter, gilt ornaments in other compartments, marbled endleaves, edges rouged. 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 very good condition. Internally fine. (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. The introductory letter, dated March 7, 1730, is signed by P. Villepontoux.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 vols. 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.