Memoires de Maximilien de Bethune, duc de Sully, Principal Ministre de Henry le Grand by Sully, Maximilien de Bethune, duc de (1560-1641) - 1745

London. 1745. Acceptable. Mis en order: avec des Remarques, par M.L.D.L.D.L. London: no publisher, 1745. 3 vols. [First published in 1638 at Sully's estate in two folio volumes as Memoires des sages et royales aeconomies d'etat, domestiques, politiques et militaires de Henry le Grand ....] [4]+xxxiv+596+[2]; [2]+x+664; [4]+vi+563+[1]pp. Signatures: pi2, a-d, e2, A-4F, 4G1 [errata]; pi1, a, b1, A-4O; pi2, a2, b1, A-4B2. Respectively with 31, 21, and 11 fine inserted copperplate portraits (volume I with portraits of both Sully and Henry IV). Brunet notes that the set normally has 27, 19, & 12 plates. Half-title to the first volume. 4to. Contemporary calf with red morocco spine labels and marbled endpapers, all edges sprinkled red. Spines and edges of the boards quite worn, hinges tender with front board of the first volume loose, internally VG with slight foxing. Uncommon. First quarto edition and the second edition of the text. Title-pages in red & black. Engraved head- and tailpieces. According to Brunet, actually published in Paris. Not to be confused with the 8-volume 12mo edition also printed in 1745 with a faux-London imprint. A French Huguenot, Sully assisted Henry IV in the rule of France. Born at the Chateau de Rosny, he was made duke of Sully in 1606. From 1596, when he was added to Henry's finance commission, Rosny introduced some order into France's economic affairs. As Superintendent of Finances he authorized the free export of grain & wine, reduced legal interest, established a special court to try cases of peculation, forbade provincial governors to raise money on their own authority, and otherwise removed many abuses of tax-collecting. In 1599 he was appointed grand commissioner of highways and public works, superintendent of fortifications, and grand master of artillery. His memoirs, written in the second person, are valuable for the history of the time and as an autobiography [Taken from Wikipedia entry on Sully 11/26/09, itself taken mostly from the 11th Britannica.] Brunet V, 587-588. Weight: 9 pounds 9.6 ounces = 4.4 kg. Size: 10.4 x 8.0 x 5.0 inches = 26 x 20 x 12.5cm. .