BARBÉ DE MARBOIS François Lettres de madame la marquise de Pompadour, depuis 1753 jusqu’à 1762 inclusivement. [suivi de] Lettres de madame la marquise de Pompadour, depuis 1746 jusqu’à 1752 inclusivement. [suivi de] Lettres et réponses écrites à madame la marquise de Pompadour, depuis 1753 jusqu’à 1762 inclusivement.

Deviosse, Jean, L’Homme qui vendit la Louisiane, 1989; Quérard, I, 173.

Fifth edition for part I and II (first in 1771) and fourth edition for part III and IV (first in 1772). Complete with 212 letters.

The letters in this volume were not written by the Marquise de Pompadour but by François Barbé de Marbois (1745-1837).

This politician, who was Chargé d’affaires at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Councillor, then Director of the Treasury and First President of the Court of Auditors, had a life full of adventures.

In the 1770s, while in Saxony to take up a political post, he discovered and studied belles-lettres. He became an editorial writer for Deutscher Merkur, an influential German journal. It was thanks to this journal in particular that he came to terms with the deception of the false letters from the Marquise. In the columns of the periodical, he proclaimed the letters to be newly discovered and thus concealed his imprint on them.

Lower margin of page 153 torn without affecting the text, page 175 incorrectly numbered 173 for volume I.

Title pages of both volumes slightly toned in outer margins.

Nice set.