Pierre de MARCA. - Lot 145

Pierre de MARCA. Histoire de Béarn containing the origin of the Kings of Navarre, the Dukes of Gascony, Marquis of Gothie, Princes of Béarn, Counts of Carcassonne, Foix and Bigorre. Avec diverses observations géographiques et historiques concernant principalement lesdits Païs. A Paris, chez Jean Camusat, 1640, in-folio bound in full armorial basane, spine remounted with old monogrammed caissons. Bound in the arms of Achille III de Harlay. Illustrated with a copper-engraved family tree, 3 engraved seal vignettes (pages 624, 625, 658) and a fine title vignette. On the title page, 2 glued papers concealing a handwritten bookplate. Very rare first edition. This is the first serious history of Béarn, the manuscript of which was completed in 1633. The ending was never published (the story ends in 1300), and perhaps never written. Pierre de Marca (1594-1664), from Béarn, was first President of the Parliament of Pau, then State Councillor, then Bishop of Couserans, Archbishop of Toulouse, and finally Minister of State. This highly erudite work retraces in great detail the particularly rich history of Béarn, Bigorre, Couserans, Comminges, Comté de Foix, Gascony and Languedoc. On p. 253, it contains one of the first descriptions of the Pic d'Ossau. Achille III de Harlay (1639-1712), Count of Beaumont, Lord of Grosbois, First President of the Paris Parliament. He bequeathed his splendid library to the Jesuit College in Paris. O.H.R. 744, irons 1 and 2.