On the history of France from the death of Louis XIII till 1664
First Elzevier edition
Benj. Priolus
Ab Excessu Ludovici XIII. De Rebus Gallicis Historiarum. Libri XII. Ad Serenissimum Principem & Augustum Senatum Respublicae Venetorum.
Ultrajecti, Apud P. Elzevirium, 1669.
12mo: 3 by 5 1/3"
(30), 506, (8) pp.
Contemporary overlapping vellum, spine with handwritten title.

Engraved title page as well as a typographic title page.
This is one of only nine publications that Pieter Elzevier from Utrecht published between 1667 and 1675.
The work is a rather free and faithful account of the history of France from the death of Louis XIII till 1664, the administration of Cardinal Mazarin and the French Civil War of the Fronde between 1648 and 1653 after the Peace of Westphalia. This Civil War is also depicted on the engraved title page, togethrer with a portrait of the king. The style of this history work is copied from Tacitus and it abounds in characters and portraits, often touched in a satirical manner.
Benjamin Prioli [or Priolo 1602 1667] was a French historian of Italian descent. When he was 15, he lost both his parents. He studied classical literature in leiden under Heinsius and Vossius and thereafter went to Paris to meet Grotius. In Padua he studied philosophy under cremonini. He was employed by the Duke of Longueville, who was the French plenipotentiary for the Peace of Westphalia. During the Civil War of the Fronde, Prioli took part with the Prince of Conde against the Court. When the Nobility lost, Prioli's property was confiscated and Prioli was forced to go into exile in Flanders. Later he could return to Paris.
The work is dedicated by Prioli to the Doge and the Senate of Venice as a token of gratitude for creating him Chevalier of Saint Marc.
Prioli's "Rebus Gallicis Historiarum" was first published in 1665 in Charleville by Poncelet and Paris by Frederic Leonard.
The remaining copies of this Utrecht Elzevier edition were brought on the market in 1677 by Jean Maximilian Lucas from Amsterdam, with a new title page stating "Nova editio".
The engraved title page mentions "Benj. Prioli. Historiae Galliae. LibriXII". Engraving unsigned.
The typographic title page has the more extensive title "Ab Excessu Ludovici XIII. De Reus Gallicis, Historiarum" and erroneous date (1569).
Binding is tight. Excellent condition except faded dampstain on few pages
Text in Latin


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