OSSAT, Arnaud d'. Letters of the Most Illustrious and Most R - Lot 239

OSSAT, Arnaud d'. Letters of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Cardinal d'Ossat, Bishop of Bayeux [...]. From the year 1694 to the year 1703. One of the greatest classics of French diplomacy. Paris, Joseph Bovïllerot, 1627. 2 sets in 2 sturdy in-12 volumes, each bound in soft full vellum, with straight, unmarked spines. 25 unnumbered folios, 708 pp., and 6 unnumbered folios; 709–1389 pp. and 5 unnumbered folios. Engraved portrait on the frontispiece; headbands and initials. Soiling on the bindings, a few stains on the edges, slight foxing, and a few browned leaves; upper margin short. A revised and expanded edition of this classic work on diplomacy. Cardinal d’Ossat (1536–1604) was tasked in 1595 with smoothing over relations between Henry IV and the Pope. He secured the king’s absolution and the annulment of his marriage to Marguerite de Valois. Handwritten ex-libris bearing the coat of arms of Etienne Teillard. A fine copy in a contemporary binding.