“AMOROUS INTRIGUES AT THE COURT OF CHARLES II”: ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THE MEMOIRS OF COUNT GRAMMONT, 1809, HANDSOMELY BOUND

(CHARLES II) HAMILTON, Count Anthony. Memoirs of Count Grammont. London: T. Bensley for J. White et al., 1809. Three volumes. Octavo, early 20th-century full tan morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $1000.

Later illustrated edition in English of this satirical inside look at the court of King Charles II of England, with 40 engraved portraits and six scenes, handsomely bound by Canape.

Gibbon called it “the delight of every man and woman of taste.” First published in 1714, one year after the French first edition, this fascinating chronicle of a “reprobate count” captures the “easy and irresponsible air” of the English court of 1662-64. “For drollery, knowledge of the world, various satire, general utility, united with great vivacity of composition… the Memoirs of Grammont… deserve that character more than any which was ever written” (Walter Scott). “It is written with such brilliancy and vivacity that it must always rank as a classic” (DNB). See Lowndes 986.

A fine set, with only occasional light foxing and offsetting, handsomely bound.