WITTELIEB (Jacob von). - HISTOIRE DES REVOLUTIONS... Lot 7

[WITTELIEB (Jacob von)]. - HISTOIRE DES REVOLUTIONS DE L'ILE DE CORSE, et de l'élévation de Théodore I sur le trône de cet État. À La Haie, chés Pierre Paupie, 1738. Small in-12,(12)-323-(1) pp. in marbled brown basane, smooth spine decorated with gilt motifs in repetition, decorated edges, red edges; without copper-engraved frontispiece, worn binding with restored lower head, upper jaw entirely split, start of lower spine split (period binding). FIRST EDITION. The work comprises two distinct parts. The first is an abridgement of Anton-Pietro Filippini's Istoria di Corsica (1594), written in elegant language and sometimes attributed to the writer Jean-Baptiste Boyer d'Argens, author of the Lettres juives published by Pierre Paupie in 1736-1737, a work mentioned twice in the present volume, in the bookseller's warning and in the preface. The second part, written in unadorned, more informative language, is attributed to Jacob von Wittelieb by Renée Luciani, following the advice of Charles de Giafferi. This is the story of the early adventures of Theodor von Neuhoff, a Westphalian nobleman elected King of Corsica in 1736, and his struggle against the Genoese before the French landing that would put an end to this first attempt at Corsican independence. The work was translated into Italian in 1739. Provenance: Xavier Versini (double bookplate, his signature on p. 11 and his initials on p. 26).