BEAUMARCHAIS (Pierre-Augustin Caron de). Mémoires.... Lot 25

BEAUMARCHAIS (Pierre-Augustin Caron de). Mémoires. S.l.n.n., [1775]. 2 volumes in-8, (2)-394-(2 blank) + (2)-208-xvi-188 [miscalculated without missing 1 to 176 and 179 to 190] pp. in marbled brown calf, smooth spines cloisonné and fleuronné with garnet and black title-pieces, gilt coat of arms on the boards, filleted spines, red edges; spines, headpieces and spines a little rubbed; portrait pasted in the inner margin of the faux-tittre (period binding). First collective edition, including: Mémoire à consulter pour Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. - Supplement to the Mémoire à consulter. - Addition to the supplement to the Mémoire à consulter. - Fourth Mémoire à consulter. - Cinquième mémoire à consulter, et consultation [preceded by a warning]. - Arrest de la Cour du Parlement [...] du 26 février mil sept cent soixante quatorze. - Arrêt du Conseil d'État du roi, qui supprime un écrit ayant pour titre : Mémoire à consulter & consultation pour Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais/ Du 4 février 1775. In this famous case against the judge Louis-Valentin Goëzman de Thurn, Beaumarchais appealed to public opinion with his Mémoires, written in the tone of a comedy: it was his first success as an author, but also a legal setback that saw him stripped of his rights and his Mémoires burned. Copper-engraved illustration: portrait after Charles-Nicolas Cochin; title by Antoine-Jean Duclos after Clément-Pierre Marillier, repeated in both volumes. EXEMPLAIRE AUX ARMES DU PRESIDENT D'ESNEVAL (OHR, pl. 196, iron in small format). Esprit-Robert-Marie Le Roux, baron d'Esneval et d'Acquigny (1747-1791) made his career at the Parlement de Rouen, where he served as councillor (1767) and then president à mortier (1770). He was one of the parliamentarians affected by the reform of Chancellor de Maupeou (1771-1774), which closed some parliaments, including that of Rouen, for a time. Judge Goëzman, on the other hand, was one of those who benefited, being appointed judge to the Court of Justice replacing the Parliament of Paris. Provenance : Poinsot (unsightly stamp in pink ink on the titles).