[LOUIS XIV]. Manuscript, Louis XIV, [18th century]; 416 page - Lot 229

[LOUIS XIV]. Manuscript, Louis XIV, [18th century]; 416 pages in-4, bound in contemporary ivory vellum, title page on spine. Life of Louis XIV, copied by several hands, with glosses and a few bibliographical references in the margins. The history of Louis XIV's reign is recounted year by year, with the vintage rubricated at the top of each page; a final quire provides a "Supplément" of a few passages to be inserted. "The reign of Louis XIV, which I am about to begin, is the longest, the busiest with wars and negotiations, the most fertile in great men of all kinds, and the most fecund in famous events ever mentioned in history, if we except the reign of Augustus, which has great connections with that of Louis XIV. The birth of this prince, who came into the world after a sterile 23-year marriage, was considered miraculous and an extraordinary gift from heaven. This is why he was given the nickname of God-given. He also had the singularity of being born with teeth. [...] I beg the reader to observe that in this history we shall focus only on the principal facts and the great military and political events that can serve as instruction for young people and advise them to love virtue, the arts and the fatherland"... Ex-libris Bibliothèque de Th. de Jonghe [founding member of the Société des Bibliophiles Belges, Th. de Jonghe built up an important collection of books and manuscripts, devoted to Dutch history, heraldry, genealogy and numismatics; his library was sold from November 1860 to February 1861].