JAURGAIN (Jean Baptiste Étienne de) - Lot 396

JAURGAIN (Jean Baptiste Étienne de) Troisvilles, d'Artagnan and the three Musketeers. Biographical and heraldic sketches followed by a notice on the two Companies of the Musketeers and the list of their Captains. Paris, Champion, sd. [1885]. Large in-8: 2f. 96pp. 1f. erratum and table. Limited edition of 100 copies (n°15). Contemporary ½ brown calf, gilt title throughout on spine, rubbing. Rare first edition, published as an offprint of the Revue de Béarn, Navarre et Lannes. JAURGAIN (1842-1920) was self-taught. A correspondent in Navarre for a Parisian newspaper during the Third Carlist War (1872-76), he moved to Pamplona in 1875 to delve into the archives, from which he accumulated the data for his future publications. From then on, he never ceased to cultivate himself, working tirelessly on history and genealogy, and his numerous works, mainly on the Basque Country and Gascony, are still the standard today. He ordered his heir Renaud d'Elissagaray, his adopted son, not to publish anything until thirty years after his death. This may partly explain the late publication of "La Maison de Gramont". (Saffroy III 47373-74) Provenance: From the library of Château de Wideville (Louis Hector de Galard de Brassac de Béarn).