14 - [ALSACE]. Collection of Royal Ordinances and Regulations of the Sovereign Council of Alsace, from its establishment to the present. Printed by order of the First President. Part One: 1657–1707. Part Two: 1708–1737.

[ALSACE]. Collection of Royal Ordinances and Regulations of the Sovereign Council of Alsace, from its establishment to the present. Printed by order of the First President. Part One: 1657–1707. Part Two: 1708–1737. First edition of this crucial source for the legislative constitution of Alsace under the Ancien Régime. Colmar, published by Jean Henry Decker, 1738. 2 volumes in 1 folio volume, fawn half-basane, ribbed spine highlighted with gilt scrolls. 16 unnumbered folios (title page, table of documents, and chronological table), 456 pp.; 1 unnumbered folio, 457–966 pp., 22 unnumbered folios (table of contents, table of ordinances). Normal scuffing on the binding, upper cap worn down, wear indentation on the upper edge, minimal foxing primarily in the margins of the leaves. First edition of this legislative masterpiece chronicling 80 years (1657–1737) of the province’s administrative and political integration into the Kingdom of France following the 1648 Treaties of Westphalia. The work was compiled by Nicolas de Corberon the Younger (1689–1764), President of the Sovereign Council, who was esteemed for his integrity and his devotion to the province. It meticulously documents the province’s transition toward French royal centralism while respecting certain local particularities. Although the two parts are paginated consecutively, they strictly separate the period of establishment (1657–1707) from that of administrative consolidation (1708–1737). A few handwritten highlights and annotations in ink (tables of contents). Opposite the title page of the first volume, a handwritten page in ink has been pasted, concerning the Duke of Mazarin, who was appointed governor of Alsace by Louis XIV in 1661. A fine copy in a sturdy contemporary binding.