Marechal de Berwik - Memoires du Marechal de Berwik - 1737-1737

ORIGINAL EDITION

2 volumes in-8 DE 327 AND 339 pages

Full title: Memoirs of Marshal Berwick, Duke and Peer of France, & Generalissimo of Her Majesty's Armies.

Author: Jacques Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick (illegitimate son of James II of England and nephew of Churchill, he was one of the greatest military leaders of Louis XIV's reign).

Edition: In The Hague, at P. Paupie, bookseller.

Date: M.DCC.XXXVII (1737). This is an old edition published shortly after his death (1734).

Format: 2 volumes (First Volume and Second Volume) – Complete with both volumes.

Physical State and Bindings
Binding: Full calfskin (leather) of the period, dark brown marbled.

Spine: Spine with raised bands richly ornamented with gilt panels and floral motifs. Title and volume labels (although the leather is a bit rubbed, the gilding remains visible).

Interior: * Presence of superb marbled paper flyleaves with a shell motif (blue, red, yellow).

The paper shows a fine patina with some scattered foxing due to age, but the text remains very fresh and perfectly legible.

Red edges.

Condition: Fine overall for books approaching 300 years old. Slight wear to the headcaps and corners, typical of use.

Historical Content
These memoirs are a primary source for the military history of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Berwick details his campaigns, notably the War of the Spanish Succession and the famous Battle of Almansa. The narrative ends posthumously in 1734, the year he was killed by a cannon shot at the Siege of Philipsburg."}