JEANNIN (Pierre) - Lot 506

JEANNIN (Pierre) President Jeannin's negotiations. Paris, Le Petit, 1656. In folio: 7f, 757pp, 4f (table of key words); a portrait at the beginning of the work. A strip of reinforcing paper in the margins at the foot of 2 leaves. Numerous pagination errors. Antique stiff vellum covers, handwritten title on spine. Pierre Jeannin (1540-1623), known as Président Jeannin, was First President of the Burgundy Parliament, French ambassador to Holland, advisor to Kings Henri III, Henri IV and Louis XIII, and Superintendent of Finances. Having fought on the side of the Ligueurs, Henri IV took him into his service and entrusted him with important diplomatic missions, such as negotiating the Peace of Vervins with Spain (1598) and the Treaty of Lyon with Savoy (1601); his mandate as ambassador extraordinaire to the Netherlands led to a twelve-year truce between Spain and the United Provinces. On the death of the king, Marie de Médicis made him her Controller General of Finances in 1616. This collection was considered a model. It is said to have served as an instruction for Cardinal de Richelieu, who read Jeannin's "Négociations" every day in his retreat in Avignon, finding, he said, endless learning opportunities.