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118 - WICQUEFORT (Abraham de). L'Ambassadeur et ses fonctions. The…
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
WICQUEFORT (Abraham de). L'Ambassadeur et ses fonctions. The Hague, Jean and Daniel Steucker, 1681. 2 volumes in-4, red morocco, wide border of pampers and birds set with gilt fillets and roulettes, rich decoration of compartments of small gilt irons around a central quatrefoil, decorated mute spine, roulette on the edges, gilt edges (Binding of the period). First edition of this manual for the perfect diplomat, written at the end of his life by Abraham de Wicquefort (1598-1682), who was ambassador to Paris for the Elector of Brandenburg for thirty years before being expelled by Mazarin and becoming secretary-interpreter of the States of Holland in The Hague until the Williamson Affair in 1675: Accused of high treason after selling secret dispatches to the English ambassador, Wicquefort narrowly avoided the death penalty and found refuge at the court of the Duke of Brunswick-Zell, of whom he was an adviser for a time. This work is one of the first major texts on diplomacy. Wicquefort draws on his many years of experience to address both theoretical and practical issues: embassies, the privileges of representatives and negotiations with sovereigns, ways of avoiding wars and conflicts, protocol, extraterritoriality, and so on. A magnificent copy in a very rich period Dutch binding in red morocco decorated with small irons. From the libraries of Pierre-François Guestier (1793-1874), wine merchant in Bordeaux and peer of France, with armorial bookplate; then to the diplomat Georges Le Sourd (1834-1877), husband of his granddaughter Marie Phélan (1844-1918), owner of Château Phélan-Ségur. The copy was in the library of Baron Jérôme Pichon (1869, n°156), whose catalogue includes this comment: "Rich gilt binding in full, which appears to have been made in Holland in imitation of a French binding". Small but not serious hole in the spine of the second volume; a few rare light brown spots.
See original version (French)
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About the sale Antiquarian books from the 15th to the 19th century - Astronomy
Auction location
Auction time 06/24/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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