Memoires de la Vie du Comte de Grammont, contenant particulierement l'histoire amoureuse de la cour d'Angleterre, sous le regne de Charles II

Cologne: Pierre Marteau, 1714. Second edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Stated Second Edition, first published in 1713, 8vo, full period brown calf, heavily gilt decorated spine, light rubbing and wear, very good, 304 pp., some rubbing to corners and joints, light spottiness and scuffing to boards, contents clean and bright. An early edition of these posthumously published memoirs (the count lived from 1621 to 1707), dictated in part, but mainly authored by his brother in law Anthony Hamilton. The count, who had no scruples as far as women or money were concerned, was exiled from France in 1662 for seducing one of the king's favorite mistresses. He went to England, where he found the court of Charles II to his satisfaction, filled with intrigue, amatory adventures, etc. There he married Elizabeth Hamilton, reportedly forced by her brothers to do so. They went back to France where the Countess who was witty and beautiful held her own in the court of Louis XIV. The memoirs of the count are among the masterpieces of the era, with an elegant style and a marked lack of restraint, especially when it came to the gossip and licentiousness of the court of Charles II. In this book, the count is portrayed as a real rascal (un fripon).