SULLY (Maximilien de Béthune, duc de) - Lot 619

SULLY (Maximilien de Béthune, duc de) Mémoires des sages et royalles oeconomies d'Estat, domestiques, politiques et militaires de Henry le Grand, l'Exemplaire des Roys, le Prince des vertus, des armes & des loix, & le père en effet de ses peuples François. Et des servitudes utiles, obéissances convenables Amsterdam, Alethinographe de Clearetimelee ; Graphexechon de Pistariste, sd [1638]. 2 volumes in folio: 4f., 535pp. - 4f., 463pp. (numerous miscalculations). Marginal light half-mark on a few leaves. Modern stiff vellum, stains, handwritten title on spine. One of the forgeries of the original edition, precisely reproducing the text of the extremely rare original edition. This work brings together the first two parts of Sully's memoirs, dating from 1570 to 1605. Considered an essential source on the reign of Henri IV, Sully's memoirs have been criticized to the point of denying them any reliable documentary value.