TRESSAN (Count of). - Lot 142

TRESSAN (Count of). Extract from Roland l'amoureux by Matheo Maria Boyardo, Comte de Scandiano. Paris, Pissot, 1780. In-12, red morocco, triple gilt fillet, central coat of arms, ornate spine, olive title page, interior roulette, gilt edges (period binding). First edition of this French prose translation by the Comte de Tressan, Lieutenant-General of the King's armies and Commander of the Order of Saint-Lazare. Dedicated to Monsieur, the King's brother, it is preceded by a preliminary discourse in which the comte de Tressan explains that his literary undertaking responds to the pressing demand of men of enlightened taste and amiable & witty women. A copy bearing the coat of arms of the Comtesse de Provence, wife of Monsieur, the king's brother, to whom the work is dedicated. Marie-Joséphine-Louise de Savoie (1753-1810), daughter of Duke Victor-Amédée III, was the wife of the Count of Provence, brother of Louis XVI. Escaping the Revolution, she ended her life in exile and never became queen, dying five years before the coronation of her husband, King of France from 1815 to 1824 under the name of Louis XVIII (Quentin-Bauchart, Les Femmes bibliophiles de France, t. II, pp. 309-330). Slight staining to a few leaves.