Jean LE CLERC. The Life of Cardinal Duke of Richelieu. New edition. Revûë & augmented with curious & historical pieces which serve to clarify it. In Amsterdam, At the expense of the Company, 1753.

5 vol. in-12, portrait frontispiece, xxiv-499 pp., 501 pp., 503 pp., vii-470 pp., 528 pp., flat plan. from the siege of La Rochelle to the first volume; full fawn calf, ribbed spine decorated with small gilded iron, red morocco title and volume number label, red edges (contemporary binding).

Black ink stamp “Library of Malmaison” on the title of each volume. Individual boxing for each volume in modern red half-morocco.

Beautiful edition of this biography of Richelieu, decorated with the copper-engraved portrait of the cardinal and a fold-out plan of the siege of La Rochelle. Volumes IV and V contain the proofs, the last volume ending with an ample alphabetical table of the names and subjects cited.

Provenance :

From the library of the Château de la Malmaison with the stamp affixed to the title “Bibliotheque de la Malmaison” during the sale of the estate in 1829.

(…) After having triumphed over all his private enemies, as well as those of the State, he died in the height of glory, & in extraordinary esteem for his Prince. (…) He had intended to write the History of his reign (…) we cannot dispute that it was composed by a man who knew the state of France thoroughly (…). It is with these words that this remarkable biography of Cardinal Richelieu ends; we can only be seduced by the idea that Napoleon, a young consul or emperor, had this work in hand at Malmaison, pushing his reflections on the political heritage of the cardinal, or being able to measure himself against the great statesman that was Richelieu.

Collection of bibliophile Calvin Bullock with his bookplate.