Treaty of chords and their succession, according to the system of the fundamental bass. M. BAILLEUX, Paris. 1764. One volume in-8, bound. Not collated.

BRETEUIL (Louis-Auguste Le Tonnelier, baron de). Mémoires concernant la charge & les fonctions d'introducteur des ambassadeurs, Mémoires du baron de Breteuil introducteur des ambassadeurs (titles of volumes 2 to 6). [MANUSCRIT] Sl, [18th century]. 6 vol. in-folio, ca. [2200] pages, glazed brown marbled calf, ornate smooth spine, garnet-red title page, gilt arms in center of boards, speckled edges (contemporary binding). Some minor wear, not serious. "Qui a eu plus de part que celse a toutes ces intrigues de Cour?" (La Bruyere about Baron de Breteuil). From a family of great servants of the State, brother of an intendant of finance, he was appointed ordinary reader to the king in 1677, and employed on a diplomatic mission to the Duke of Mantua from 1682 to 1684. He was then appointed King's Counselor, and served as Ambassador's Introducer from 1698 to 1716 (in the first half of the year). A prominent figure of the Court, he was evoked by several writers of his time - to his advantage as Cléante in his mistress President Ferrand's Histoire des amours de Cléante et de Bélise (1689), and in portrait-charges by La Bruyère and Saint-Simon. Baron de Breteuil's memoirs are conceived as a succession of annotated accounts, following a chronological order: for each embassy mentioned, Baron de Breteuil gives details of entries into Paris, marching orders, public and secret audiences granted by the king, and visits to princes and princesses of the blood, accompanying his accounts with historical and synthetic remarks on points of etiquette. Some of these remarks developed into self-contained treatises. Baron de Breteuil evokes ambassadors from all over Europe, as well as from far-off lands such as Morocco (1699), "Muscovy, Turkey, Siam & Morocco" (appendix for 1714) and Persia (1715), and provides an account of a number of French ambassadors' entries into foreign courts, notably in London and Vienna. It recounts important moments in court life under Louis XIV, and provides copies of related texts (ordinances, memoirs to the king, correspondence with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, papal writs, etc.). With drawing of a table plan. Several other copies of these Mémoires exist, in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, the Bibliothèque de Rouen and the Château de Breteuil. Several extracts were first published, before Évelyne Lever published the complete edition in 1992 (reissued in 2009). With the account of Louis XIV's death, taken from the diary of the Marquis de Dangeau, in a copy prior to its publication (by Voltaire in part in 1770, then in full by Soulié and Dussieux in 1854-1860). Detailed account of the annulment of Louis XIV's will under pressure from the Regent and the dukes, including Saint-Simon, in 1715. Baron de Breteuil devotes several passages to diplomatic gifts and gratuities, a practice he deems necessary but which, to avoid abuse, he believes should be in kind and not in monetary form. ATTACHED, 2 pieces: a short memoir concerning a point of etiquette, and a copy of excerpts from Sainctot's memoirs concerning the reception of an ambassadress. With numerous old handwritten bookmarks. EXEMPLAIRE AUX ARMES DES MARQUIS DE VERNEUIL (gilt coat of arms on boards, O.H.R., pl. n° 2200, large-format iron).