87 - ROUSSEAU (Jean Baptiste).

ROUSSEAU (Jean Baptiste). Miscellaneous Works. London, Tonson & Watts, 1723. 2 large quarto volumes, light calfskin, richly decorated raised bands on the spine, gilt coat of arms in the center of the covers, gilt scrolls on the edges (contemporary binding). A well-printed new edition illustrated with a copperplate-engraved frontispiece by L. Chéron. It contains the author’s odes, cantatas, epistles, allegories, epigrams, and comedies (*Le Flatteur*, *Le Capricieux*, *Le Caffé*, *La Ceinture magique*). A precious copy bearing the coat of arms of Jean-Baptiste Rousseau’s patron during his exile in Vienna in 1712, Charles-François de Vintimille, Count of Luc and Marquis of Les Arcs (1653–1740). He began his career as a musketeer, then, after losing an arm at the Battle of Cassel (1677), became a galley captain. He was also made a Commander of the Order of Saint Louis in 1693, served as the King’s Lieutenant in Provence, was governor of Porquerolles, ambassador to Switzerland (1708 –1715), then in Vienna (1715–1717), a Councilor of State for Military Affairs, and a Knight of the Holy Spirit in 1724. (O.H.R. 1428, plate no. 2.) It should be noted that Jean-Baptiste Rousseau was sentenced to perpetual banishment by a ruling of the Parliament of Paris on April 7, 1712, for writing truly odious verses, filled with insults directed not only at his adversaries but also at high-ranking figures, as well as blasphemies against religion. In exile, he was welcomed in Vienna by the Count of Vintimille du Luc, then French ambassador to Vienna, who took him under his protection. In gratitude, Rousseau dedicated one of his finest odes to him. It is therefore possible that this copy was a gift from Rousseau to his patron.