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85 - MANUSCRIPT] – [SAUVAL, Henri] – Reflections on the History o…
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Estimate €600
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Description
MANUSCRIPT] – [SAUVAL, Henri] – Reflections on the History of France (The Love Affairs of the Kings of France). No place, no date (Paris?), last third of the 17th century. In-4, 245 pp., neat handwriting, first quire almost detached, yellowed paper, fawn-coloured marbled endpapers, decorated ribbed spine. A heavily edited published version of the manuscript, covering the kings of the first dynasty up to the murder of Bussy d’Amboise. It was first published under the title ‘Amours des rois de France sous plusieurs races’, as a supplement to *Histoire et recherches des antiquités de la ville de Paris* (1724) in 40 pp. folio; this supplement is not present in all copies. The printed version ends with King Louis XIII and omits the kings of the first dynasty. The text was completely reworked and toned down, whilst retaining Sauval’s order of presentation and certain expressions. Another edition was published by the Marquis d’Argens under the title: *Historical Memoirs and Secrets Concerning the Love Affairs of the Kings of France*, Paris, 1739, 164 pp. The sections concerning the kings of the first and second lines are scarcely developed in this edition, and the others have been rewritten; however, the following has been added: ‘On Syphilis or the Neapolitan Disease’, also present in the manuscript (pp. 379–404) and published in part in 1724 under the title: *The Hôtel-Dieu Exempt from Receiving Those Afflicted with Syphilis*. In the preface to the manuscript, Sauval states: ‘To complete the scandalous history of the court of Paris, it remains to discuss the Neapolitan Plague, which in the past century spared few of the dissolute members of the court and of Paris.’ The second part of the manuscript (pp. 245–444) contains: *La Chronique scandaleuse de Paris* (pp. 245–376). – *De la Verolle ou Mal de Naples* (pp. 379–404) – *Bordel roullant*. Carts, carriages, sedan chairs and other vehicles (pp. 407–444). *The Scandalous Chronicle of Paris* is a history of the capital’s brothels, first published by Gay in Brussels in 1883. A second edition, based on Sauval’s original manuscript, appeared in Paris in 1910. In both editions, a final anecdote (pp. 373–375) reported to Sauval by eyewitnesses has been omitted: ‘Some elderly men told me that, in their youth, people used to be paraded through these streets…’ – an account of the humiliation of a prostitute perched on a donkey, facing the other way, and forced to take part in a procession whilst in that position. The section ‘Mobile brothel. Carts, carriages, chairs and other vehicles (pp. 407–444)’ appears never to have been published. It is also present in the manuscript from the Baluze collection (see below). Henri Sauval (1623–1676) is the author of a remarkable *History of Paris*, notable for the wealth of information it provides on the daily life of Parisians. None of his works were published during his lifetime; they circulated in manuscript form and were known, for example, to his friend Richard Simon. The editor of the *Chronique scandaleuse de Paris* in 1910 stated that he had identified four manuscripts of the work, apart from the one in the Baluze collection, which he used and which is believed to be in Sauval’s own hand. Our copy resembles the one used in the Gay edition of 1883, also beginning with ‘Reflexions sur l’Histoire de France’ rather than ‘Amours des Rois de France’. 18th-century handwritten bookplate: Mihi & amicis, Cailleau. An 18th-century note on the flyleaf tells us that the manuscript belonged to President Durey de Meinières (1705–1785), manuscripts from whose collection are held at the BNF.
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About the sale The Jean Demaux Collection – Part 2
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Auction time 09/16/2026 at 2:00 PM
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