The History of the Bastile: With a Concise Account of the Late...
With a Discussion of the Man in the Iron Mask [Craufurd, Quintin (1743-1819)]. The History of the Bastile: With a Concise Account of the Late Revolution in France. To Which is Added, An Appendix, Containing, Among Other Particulars, An Enquiry into the History of the Prisoner with the Mask. London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1790. [iv], 437, [3] pp. Large folding plan of the Bastille preceding text. With a half-title and final errata leaf. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5"). Contemporary calf, gilt fillets and lettering piece to spine, gilt tooling to board edges. Light rubbing and a few small scuffs and scratches to boards, front board detached along with front free endpaper, moderate rubbing to extremities, spine and joints varnished, upper left corner of lettering piece lacking with minor loss to text, spine ends chipped, rear joint cracked, corners bumped and somewhat worn, rear hinge starting. Light toning to interior, occasional light foxing, faint offsetting to folding plan. $250. * Only edition. Craufurd was a British author who settled in Paris after making his fortune with the East India Company. There, he grew close to many in the French court, including Marie Antoinette, and was one of the organizers of the court's doomed flight to Varennes in 1791. The History of the Bastile gives a historical overview of both the prison and its prisoners in light of the French Revolution. The appendix includes an extensive discussion of the so-called "Man in the Iron Mask," perhaps the Bastille's most famous inhabitant. After a review of various accounts of the prisoner (including a somewhat dismissive commentary on Voltaire's theories), Craufurd concludes that the masked prisoner was "of very superior birth, and thought to be of the highest importance" but not "known to the world before his confinement." English Short-Title Catalogue T89356.
Price: $250.00
Book number 74003