RENAUDOT (Théophraste) Lot n° 35

Eloge d'Armand Jean du Plessis cardinal de Richelieu. Paris, Melchior Tavernier, 1627. Printed board (54,3 x 40 cm). First edition: it is illustrated with a copper-engraved portrait by Melchior Tavernier after Michel Lasne. First edition copy, before the addition under the portrait of the engraved mention "Melchior Tavernier fecit et ex." "The portrait by Lasne, which is the first authentic portrait of Richelieu, will be, until the portraits painted by Philippe de Champaigne from 1633, the model transmitting the effigy of the cardinal" (Maxime Préaud). Rare placard, by the inventor of the first weekly newspaper. A doctor by training, an inquisitive mind, a Protestant converted to Catholicism and a protégé of Cardinal de Richelieu to whom he owed his brilliant career, Théophraste Renaudot (1586-1653) was, since 1624, admitted to the King's Council. He was "always one of Richelieu's loyal followers, even during the latter's disgrace. His "office of addresses", which he was to open a little later, made it possible, by means of advertisements, to offer help and employment to the needy. In 1631, he began to publish the weekly Gazette, which made him famous, and which Richelieu knew how to use for his propaganda" (Maxime Préaud in Richelieu, l'art et le pouvoir, 2002, nº 92). This panegyric of his protector will be the subject of a second edition in 1628 in the form of a 7-page in-4 booklet. (Les Sources de l'histoire de France, nº 1863.) The print was formerly lined on strong paper. Small angular paper loss without affecting the text.