Monsieur le Maistre - Les Plaidoyez, et Harangues de Monsieur le Maistre - 1673

Antoine LE MAISTRE. The Pleadings and Harangues of Monsieur Le Maistre, formerly Advocate at the Parliament, & Counselor to the King in his State and Privy Councils. Made available to the public by Mr. Jean Issali, Advocate at the Parliament. Latest edition. In Paris, at Pierre Le Petit, Printer & Ordinary Bookseller to the King, 1673. With the King's Privilege.
1 volume in-4 (about 25.5 x 18.5 cm), [12]-722-[32] pages.
Famous collection of pleadings by Antoine Le Maistre (1608-1658), the most brilliant advocate of the Parliament of Paris under Louis XIII, before his retirement to Port-Royal where he became the first of the “Solitaries.” Nephew of the Grand Arnauld, he was one of the major players in Jansenism. The work brings together pleadings on civil and criminal cases: heiresses, divisions of property, abductors, pious legacies, rights of parish priests… A foundational text of French judicial eloquence and a precious testimony on Old Regime law.
Dedication epistle to Pomponne de Bellièvre, premier president at the Parliament, under a large banner engraved with his arms. Wood-engraved vignette on the title (basket of flowers), decorated initials and borders, numerous marginal notes in Latin.

Provenance: ex-libris in ink on the flyleaf, “Ex libris Casimiri Gabrielis Timothei Brousse-Duplan,” repeated on the title page; an older ex-libris there is crossed out.