LA MOTTE (comtesse de). LIFE OF JEANNE DE ST. REMY DE VALOIS - Lot 199

LA MOTTE (comtesse de). LIFE OF JEANNE DE ST. REMY DE VALOIS, ci-devant comtesse de La Motte. Containing a detailed & exact account of the extraordinary events in which this unfortunate Lady has taken part since her birth, & which have contributed to elevate her to the dignity of confidante & favorite of the Queen of France; With several subsequent particulars, suitable for clearing up the mysterious transactions relating to the diamond necklace, her imprisonment, & her almost miraculous escape,..; her Petition to the National Assembly, for the purpose of obtaining a Revision of her Trial. Written by herself London, printed by J. Bew, 1791. 2 volumes in-8 of [4]-8 (chiffr from 8 to 14)-480 and [2]-480 pages, brown calf, fine gilt roulette on the boards, ornate ribbed spine (English binding of the period). RARE FIRST EDITION. "The steps and sacrifices made by the Court to prevent this book from appearing are proof enough of how much they dreaded its publication, and how many anecdotes it contains that they were quite happy to keep from the public's curiosity". The entire edition was purchased by the police and burned in the furnaces of the Sèvres factory on May 26, 1792, by Laporte, Intendant of the Civil List. This copy is complete with the portrait of Madame de La Motte with her coat of arms, the key to the escape from the Salpétrière, engraved on page 190, and the 2 plates showing the escape in a boat on the Seine and the Countess disguised as a peasant girl, all drawn by Dodd and sculpted by Goldar. The only known copy cited by Tourneux is the one that passed in the sale of Alfred Bégis's library in 1899 and hand-signed by the Countess. Spine faded, but otherwise a good copy, with three English press clippings from the period concerning Laporte pasted on one endpaper (Tourneux, p. 21152) (Quérard, II, 648). Provenance: Handwritten bill "Provient de la collection de Nolhac".