La Bastille : Dufey 1833 [ French Revolution , Folding Illustration and Map ]

Description

A scarce history of the Bastille prison from its foundation in the 14th century through to the French revolution in 1789 by Pierre JS Dufey.

 

Dufey de l’Yonne, Pierre-Joseph-Spiridion. La Bastille, mémoires pour servir à l’histoire secrète du gouvernement français, depuis le XIV^e siècle jusqu’en 1789. Paris : Au Bureau de l’Encyclopédie , PH Krabbe. 1833. First edition.

 

Scarce first edition of the history of the Bastille prison and various French governmental scandals from the controversial lawyer, publisher, and historian Pierre-Joseph-Spiridion Dufey. Starting with the prison’s original construction and first prisoner, Dufey tells the story of the Bastille to its storming during the revolution on July 14, 1789 and subsequent destruction, highlighting the most notorious incidents and inmates from its centuries long history.

Dufey, born in 1770, rose to prominence as a lawyer and commentator at the turn of the 19th century.  His writing and publication of the conspiratorial Les confessions de Napoléon published in 1816 helped spread anti-Masonic conspiracy theories about the Revolution and Napoleon’s status as an initiate of the fraternity. Convicted of publishing the satirical paper Le Nain tricolore the same year, Dufey and his collaborators were briefly exiled to the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel. Dufey eventually returned to Paris and civilian life, becoming president of the “First Class of the Historical Institute (General History and History of France)” and publishing histories such as this one until his death in 1854.

11 copies found in OCLC as of July 2022.

 

8vo, 383pp, half-leather bound with mottled boards with gilt spine. Wear with cracking to front spine outer hinge. Corners bumped and worn. Small tear to outer margin title page. Occasional margin spotting, pages otherwise clean. Includes two folding plates with a view of the Bastille in 1789 and a plan of the fortress’ layout. Very good condition.

 

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