“THE 16TH CENTURY IS THE CENTURY OF MORAL GREATNESS, JUST AS THE SUCCEEDING ONE IS THAT OF INTELLECTUAL LUSTRE AND PURITY”

D'AUMALE, M. Le Duc. (BORTHWICK, Robert Brown, translator). History of the Princes de Condé in the XVIth and XVIIth Centuries, Translated from the French of M. Le Duc D'Aumale. London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1872. Two volumes. Octavo, early 20th-century three-quarter morocco, marbled boards and endpapers, raised bands, all edges gilt. $600.

First English edition of this respected history of the princes of Condé, from the origins of the Capetians until 1610, with engraved portraits and folding map, very attractively bound.

This history deals with the princes of Condé, an important cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, itself part of the Capetian Dynasty. The Condé princes played a crucial role in French (and later Spanish) dynastic politics until the last of the dynasty, Louis-Henri-Joseph was falsely accused of treason and shot on Napoleon's orders. A folding map, issued to accompany the French edition of this work, has been bound into Volume I.

Map with small closed tear not affecting image. About-fine condition.