108 - [HISTORY] - GUALDO PRIORATO, Galeazzo (Count)

[HISTORY] - GUALDO PRIORATO, Galeazzo (Count) History of the Ministry of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, First Minister of the French Crown Amsterdam: Henry & Theodore Boom, 1671, 3 parts in 3 vols. Small 12mo. Full period vellum. Title in ink on the spine. First collective French edition and first printing under this sought-after Elzevirian imprint, illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece title engraved on copper by Romeyn de Hooghe. Originally written in Italian by the renowned diplomat, military officer, and historiographer Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato (1606–1678), this historical work is one of the first major systematic accounts published on the government of Cardinal Mazarin (1602–1661). The work traces the major themes of French geopolitics from Mazarin’s assumption of office in 1643 until his death, meticulously examining the major crises of Louis XIV’s minority, foremost among which were the parliamentary and princely Fronde, the negotiations for the Treaties of Westphalia and the Pyrenees, and the assertion of monarchical absolutism. Although the book was not directly printed by the Elzeviers in Leiden or Amsterdam, bibliographers and collectors traditionally include it in the famous “Elzevirian Collection ” (Willems, no. 1851) due to its absolute aesthetic conformity, its elegant typography, and its characteristic pocket-sized format. References: Willems, The Elzeviers, no. 1851; Rahir, The Elzevier Library, no. 2451.