76 - LUSSAN, Mademoiselle Marguerite de—Anecdotes from the Court of Philip Augustus. Paris, Veuve Pissot, 1733–1738. 3 vols. in-12, brown calfskin of the time, ribbed spine, minor tears at three cap ends.

LUSSAN, Mademoiselle Marguerite de—Anecdotes from the Court of Philip Augustus. Paris, Veuve Pissot, 1733–1738. 3 vols. in-12, brown calfskin of the time, ribbed spine, minor tears at three cap ends. First edition. Mlle de Lussan (Paris, 1682–May 31, 1758), born out of wedlock, owed her good education and access to the finest circles to the Count of Soissons, who appears to have been more than just a patron to her. The scholar Huet advised her to write novels; she succeeded so well that she was rumored to have had secret collaborators. *Anecdotes of the Court of Philip Augustus* popularized the horrific legend of Gabrielle de Vergy and Raoul de Coucy, which was later adapted by Belloy and Baculard d’Arnaud and also served as the basis for an opera. (An unfaithful wife unwittingly eats her lover’s heart, and upon learning of this, subsequently starves herself to death.)