Histoire universelle…comprise en trois tomes

Amsterdam [i.e.Geneva]: Heritiers de Hier. Comelin [i.e. Pierre Aubert], 1626. Second edition, revised and augmented; folio, pp. 20, 1189 columns, 744 columns (so paged), pp. [40]; top of spine chipped, 3 small worm holes through the upper cover and into the first few leaves; occasional light foxing, but generally a clean, sound copy in full contemporary calf, gilt. D'Aubigne (1552-1630) was the son of a zealous Huguenot who instilled in him an abiding protestant sympathy and an almost reckless disregard for personal safety in the Protestant struggle. He was present at the siege of Orleans where his father was killed. He soon after went to Geneva to study (truncated) under Beza. From there he attached himself to the Huguenot army under the command of the Prince of Conde. Eventually he joined the retinue of Henry of Navarre, and proved himself of great service to the future king, both as a soldier and a counselor. After Henry's elevation to the throne, the king found d'Aubigne's rough manner and caustic criticisms tiresome (in his literary works he freely exercised his gift of sarcasm with regard to the king and his family) and the rift between the two widened when the king converted to Catholicism. By the time he published the third volume of the present work, it was ordered to be burned by the common hangman, so free and unguarded was its satire. He fled to Geneva in 1620 where he lived the rest of his life. The Histoire Universelle is the work for which d'Aubigne is best remembered, "a lively chronicle of the incidents of camp and court life, [forming] a very valuable source for the history of France during the period it embraces" (EB-11). This copy has the place of printing (Amsterdam) neatly excised and patched, and "a Geneve" printed by hand above and below the printer's imprint on the title page, presumably indicating an issue from the author's city of refuge. This copy from the library of John Evelyn, with the latter-day Evelyn bookplate, Evelyn's accession number of the front flyleaf (which itself is partially loose), and the ownership signature on the title page of [Sir] Robert Offley, whose daughter married Evelyn's brother, George. Brunet I, 545. (Inventory #: 22610)