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917 - CHAMLAY (Jules-Louis Bolé, Marquis de). Memoirs of Monsieur …
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Estimate €1,500 - €1,800
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Description
CHAMLAY (Jules-Louis Bolé, Marquis de). Memoirs of Monsieur de Louvois, Minister during the reign of Louis XIV. 1692. [Manuscript], [c. 1740]. Small quarto, single title page, 312 pp. written in medium-sized, spaced-out and very legible hand, presumably by two different hands (approximately 15 lines per page), marbled fawn calfskin, decorated ribbed spine, gilt fillet on the edges, marbled edges (18th-century binding). This manuscript, written around 1740, provides a valuable account of the controversial figure of François-Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois (1641–1691), a minister of Louis XIV and a central figure in the military administration under the Ancien Régime. Although the title *Mémoires* might suggest an autobiography or a personal account, this is in fact a third-person narrative recounting the life and achievements of Louvois, written shortly after his death, which occurred in the midst of the War of the League of Augsburg. The text, preceded by a 12-page preface numbered in Roman numerals (not included in the version examined), corresponds precisely to the *Mémoires ou Essai pour servir à l’histoire de François-Michel Le Tellier, marquis de Louvois*, published in 1740 in Amsterdam. The authorship of this work, although subject to debate, is traditionally attributed to Jules-Louis Bolé de Chamlay (1650–1719), one of Louvois’s principal deputies within the War Department, before continuing his service under the minister’s son and successor, Barbezieux, from 1692 onwards. Some modern scholars suggest that the author may have been Gilbert Colbert de Saint-Pouange, another close associate of Louvois, or indeed an anonymous secretary. This manuscript marks a departure from the satirical *Testament politique du marquis de Louvois* by Courtilz de Sandras (1695), and thus constitutes the first serious and balanced biography of the minister. The belated publication of this text in 1740, nearly 50 years after Louvois’s death, may have been driven by a desire to rehabilitate his reputation or by a renewed interest in the prominent figures of Louis XIV’s reign, at a time when people were seeking to better understand the foundations of monarchical absolutism. Manuscript ex-libris dated 4 April 1755: ‘Acquired from M. le chevalier de B’. A fine copy.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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