Durée de Retz/L’Augier - Histoire de France avant Clovis - 1789

[DUREY DE RETZ / L'AUGIER]. — HISTORY OF FRANCE BEFORE CLOVIS (PARIS, GUEFFIER, MOUTARD, 1789, 2 COMPLETE VOLUMES WITH FOLIO PLATES).
Paris: Cl. J. B. Gueffier & Moutard, 1789.
2 volumes in-12. Full period calf binding, spines with raised cords and highly ornate.

New complete edition in two volumes of this highly documented historical and archaeological treatise, published in Paris in the famous year 1789.

This work reflects the 18th-century historians’ fascination with the rediscovery of our Gaulish ancestors. It analyzes the origins, religion, government and way of life of the Gauls before the Frankish invasion, drawing on the testimonies of ancient authors (Caesar, Tacitus, Strabo) and on the deciphering of medals and coins unearthed in the French soil.

The iconography is particularly successful, with its famous engraved plate depicting the romantic vision of the primitive Gaul and the explanatory sequence of antique Gallo-Roman coins.

Magnificent copy preserved in its late 18th-century full pale blond/marbled calf binding. Spines with raised cords ornamented with an exceedingly rich gilt tooling and a bright, fresh appearance (grenade motif). Original title and subtitle/volume numbering perfectly preserved and legible. Heads and corners in excellent condition, bindings very solid and superbly presented. Interior in excellent condition with very fresh antique laid paper. Well complete with the large plate of the Primitive Gaul and the folding plates of medals, very well printed on copper.

The printing date of 1789 is highly symbolic: at the very moment the Estates-General were meeting in Versailles, the figure of the “Primitive Gaul,” free and emancipated from the tutelage of the Franks, became the great political myth of the Third Estate against the nobility!

The folding plate showing the wild Gaul leaning on his stake near his cave takes on in 1789 a distinctly particular resonance. The numismatic plate showing the famous as of Nîmes (COL NEM, with the crocodile chained to the palm tree) is also one of the finest examples of using Roman numismatics in the service of French history.