VILLARS, Marie Gigault de Bellefonds de - Lettres de Madame - Lot 560

VILLARS, Marie Gigault de Bellefonds de - Lettres de Madame la Marquise de Villars, ambassadrice en Espagne, dans le tems du mariage de Charles II, roi d'Espagne, avec la princesse Marie-Louise d'Orléans, fille de Monsieur, frère unique de Louis XIV, & de Henriette-Anne d'Angleterre, sa première femme. Amsterdam and Paris, Michel Lambert, 1759. Pet. in-12, XII pp, pag. 5-244, qqs. light stains, fawn marbled calf, spine decorated, small worms' gall. First edition. Marie Gigault de Bellefonds (1624-1706) was the mother of Marshal de Villars. Saint-Simon described her as "salty, pleasant and nasty". She did, however, strike up a friendship with Queen Louise of Spain. During her stay in Madrid, she wrote letters to Marie-Angélique de Coulanges in such a pleasant, easy style, which make us regret that the collection has not been preserved in its entirety; those that have been collected were published by Perrin, Madame de Sévigné's publisher, who herself greatly appreciated them. (Bound at the head:) [CHALESME] - Les Caractères de l'homme de qualité, ou les moyens de vivre en homme de bien et en homme du monde. Paris, Guillaume Cavelier, 1707. (6) f., 252 pp., (1) f., lower margin of title trimmed short with slight loss of text.