[RICHELIEU, Cardinal, Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (1585-1642)] AUBERY, Antoine (1616-1695)

L!histoire du Cardinal Dvc de Richeliev par le Sievr Avbery advocat av parlement & aux conseils du Roy

      Paris:: Antoine Bertier. 1660. hardcover. 2. Large 4to. [20], 628, [26] pp. Engraved frontis., red and black title-page with large printer!s device. Contemporary full brown mottled calf, raised bands, gilt-stamped spine panels and title; front hinge beginning to split, cords holding firm, extremities scratched, corners showing. Contemporary ink ownership marks on title-page. Very good. . FIRST EDITION. This history of Cardinal Richelieu is by the French historian Antoine Aubery. The son of a Parisian landlord, Aubery became a lawyer in the French Parliament. Very scholarly, he was one of the official writers and apologists to the Court of France in the 18th century. Aubery was the author of many historical works, including Histoire generale des cadinaux (1642) and Memoires pour servir a l!histoire du cardinal duc de Richelieu (1660). The fine, large (305 x 218 mm) engraved frontispiece of Richelieu was executed by Aegid [Giles] Rousselet (1610-1686). The Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the King!s !Chief Minister! or !First Minister!. As a result, he is sometimes considered to be the world!s first Prime Minister, in the modern sense of the term. He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve this goal. His tenure was marked by the Thirty Years! War that engulfed Europe. Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts; most notably, he founded the Academie Francaise, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet l!Eminence rouge (!the Red Eminence!), from the red shade of a cardinal!s vestments and the style !eminence! as a cardinal. Marie-Nicolas Bouillet & Alexis Chassang (ed.), Dictionary of universal history and geography, 1878.