Memoirs of the Duc De Lauzun

Armand Louis de Gontaut duc de Biron 1747-1783; Translated from the French by E. Jules Meras

Verlag: Sturgis & Walton, New York, 1912

First American Edition (SD, also 'Published February, 1912' ). This centenarian book is in very nice condition. You can see the covers in the photos. The gilt lettering on both the front and on the spine is still quite bright. There is a little crinkling at both spine ends, but no tears. The cover edges are in solid shape, a couple of tiny dents. The cover corners look very good as well, just small spots of superficial rubbing. The book is very solidly bound from cover to cover with nicely tight pages throughout and nicely tight covers as well. The pages are exceptionally clean. Scrolling through, I'm not finding any conspicuous soiling. There are eight illustrations: In the Gardens of Fontainebleau, Lady Sarah Bunbery, Fontainebleau, Princess De Lamballe, Marie Antoinette, Rochambeau, New York from an early print, and General Washington. All the illustrations are in nice condition. Several have an amber spot of foxing or several amber spots, all limited to the white margins of the illustrations. Several are free of any foxing. On the ones where there is a spot or spots you will see the same across the way on the facing text pages. That is the case with the frontispiece and the title page that faces it. I didn't see any foxing/spotting on any other pages in the book. The pages are also in very nice condition. I'm not finding any creasing on any of them. I did find one tear (1 inch long) coming off the top corner of page 35-36. It does not reach the print on either side. It made a slight impression at the top corners of several pages before and after it, and curiously there is a slight impression at the bottom corners of a few pages around this one. On one of these pages there is a teeny tiny loss (just the very tip) at its bottom corner. Other than these very minor imperfections the pages look pretty much perfect. There is a Notes section after the last page of the memoir. It runs from page 357 to the last page of the book, page 364. 'The title of Duc de Lauzun was a French peerage created in 1692 for Antoine Nompar de Caumont under influence of Mary of Modena. All dukes were marshals of France or renowned generals. Armand Louis de Gontaut duc de Lauzun, later duc de Biron, and usually referred to by historians of the French Revolution simply as Biron was a French soldier and politician, known for the part he played in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1773, he was Grand second warden of Grand Orient de France. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 005240

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Memoirs of the Duc De Lauzun
Verlag: Sturgis & Walton, New York
Erscheinungsdatum: 1912
Einband: Hardcover
Zustand: Very Good
Auflage: 1st Edition