13946 — Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1873-1892. With portrait of d'Agrippa d'Aubigné and 2 facsimiles. 6 volumes. (4), xxvii, (1), 609 pp.; (4), 705 pp.; (4), 448 pp.; (4), 406 pp.; (4), iii, (1), 397, (1) pp.; (4), 499, (9) pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spines with raised bands, red morocco labels with gilt lettering, top edges gilt, uncut, some slight damage to the bindings. Cabeen, ii, 1348, note; Vicaire ii, col. 763-764. The only complete critical edition. Published for the first time after the original manuscripts and with biographical, bibliographical and literary notes, variants, commentary and tables. Volume 6 contains the index and the glossary. Complete with the engraved portrait by Massé (volume 5) and the two facsimiles.D'Aubigne (1552-1630, a French poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler. His epic poem Les Tragiques (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece) was the son of a zealous Huguenot who instilled in him an abiding protestant sympathy and an almost reckless disregard for personal safety in the Protestant struggle. He was present at the siege of Orleans where his father was killed. He soon after went to Geneva to study under Beza. From there he attached himself to the Huguenot army under the command of the Prince of Conde. Eventually he joined the retinue of Henry of Navarre, and proved himself of great service to the future king, both as a soldier and a counselor. After Henry's elevation to the throne, the king found d'Aubigne's rough manner and caustic criticisms tiresome (in his literary works he freely exercised his gift of sarcasm with regard to the king and his family) and the rift between the two widened when the king converted to Catholicism. When Marie de' Medici became regent following Henry's assassination in 1610, she embraced the Counter-Reformation and Aubigné's isolation made him an easy target. He was proscribed in 1620 and fled to Geneva where he lived for the rest of his life, though the hatred of the French court showed itself in procuring a sentence of death to be recorded against him more than once. He devoted the period of his exile to study, and supervising the fortifications of Bern and Basel which were designed as a material defence of the cause of Protestantism. - Copy on heavy paper.
