[Pays Basque] - [MANUSCRIT XVIIe - MAZARIN] - Lettres et mém - Lot 45

[Pays Basque] - [MANUSCRIT XVIIe - MAZARIN] - Lettres et mémoires [...] contenant le secret de la négotiation de la Paix des Pirenées, dans les Conférences tenues à St Jean de Luz en l'année 1659. Important manuscript copy of Cardinal Mazarin's private correspondence to Louis XIV and Anne of Austria during the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. In-folio, mahogany calf, ribbed spine decorated with gilt irons with brown title page, boards bearing the coat of arms of Michel-Etienne Turgot, sides decorated with gilt roulette, all edges red. 707 pages handwritten in black ink on 362 leaves. Joints split, spidering and restorations to boards. Minor foxing. A meticulous, beautifully calligraphic work containing copies of 123 letters sent by Mazarin during his stay in the Basque country to negotiate peace between France and Spain. The set runs from July 10 to November 10, 1659, covering his journey to Saint-Jean-de-Luz until three days after the signing of the treaty. For the most part addressed to Anne of Austria, Louis XIV and the ministers Le Tellier and De Lionne, the set recounts the great difficulties engendered by this conflict and the stages of this long negotiation. The Treaty of the Pyrenees, which granted France numerous territories and sealed the marriage of Louis XIV to the Infanta of Spain, established the kingdom as Europe's leading power. A precious record of this major historical event, in a fine binding bearing the coat of arms of Michel-Etienne Turgot, Provost of Paris and then State Councillor in 1737.