45 - DUCLOS (Charles Pinot) - Secret Memoirs on the Reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, Published by Buisson, 1791. 2 volumes, contemporary half-leather binding. Ex-libris by Jean LARTEGUY.

DUCLOS (Charles Pinot) - Secret Memoirs on the Reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, Published by Buisson, 1791. 2 volumes, contemporary half-leather binding. Ex-libris by Jean LARTEGUY. The book offers a critical and scathing account of the inner workings of the court, the political intrigues, and the social mores of the Ancien Régime under Louis XIV, the Regency of Philippe d’Orléans, and the reign of Louis XV. Duclos served as historiographer of France and had access to all available documents to compile these memoirs. Divided into several chapters—covering the reign of Louis XIV, the Regency, the ministries of the Duke of Bourbon and Cardinal Fleury, and the War of 1756—the work follows a chronological perspective. Duclos, a man of great seriousness in his time, was considered one of the greatest minds in Paris; his works bear witness to this. Formerly part of the Jean LARTEGUY collection, acquired through the estate of Mrs. L.