[LIGNE] [Charles-Joseph, prince de LIGNE ]- Secret instructi - Lot 401

Lot n° 401
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[LIGNE] [Charles-Joseph, prince de LIGNE ]- Secret instructi - Lot 401
[LIGNE] [Charles-Joseph, prince de LIGNE ]- Secret instruction stolen from His Majesty the King of Prussia. Containing the secret orders dispatched to the officers of his army; particularly to those of the cavallerie, to conduct themselves in the present circumstance. Translated from the original German by the Prince de Ligne. Price one Dutch guilder. First [-second] part. Printed in Westphalia, War Year 1779. 2 parts in 1 vol. pet. in-8° : 151 pp. (Title slightly soiled with angular browning on verso and facing page). 19th c. half calf, spine ribbed with red leather etiquette (Upper headband damaged, upper jaw split at head at 1st nerve). First French edition - or even first edition - and the first published under the name of the Prince de Ligne, the probable author of these "instructions". A German edition exists, published in 1778 and 1779 with a Prague address, but there is some doubt as to the dating of these Prague editions, which may have been backdated to support Frederick II's false authorship. In this case, our edition would be the true original of the text, as the Prince de Ligne was not sufficiently fluent in German to write a text in that language. Ref. J. Vercruysse, "L'histoire des Préjugés et Fantaisies militaires. Le Prince-écrivain, l'illustrateur, les imprimeurs", in NAPL, I, 1986, pp. 63-107; Id, "Des Lettres à Eugénie à l'Instruction secrète : compléments à la bibliographie des éditions anciennes du prince de Ligne", in NAPL, III, 1988, pp. 73-91; Vercruysse, pp. 69-71. ATTACHED: Other edition, same format: Strasbourg, Levrault, 1810. viii-104 pp. Muted yellow speckled paper binding. In a lavaliere half-maroquin folder signed Marianne Diercxsens and matching bordered slipcase. False-title missing, margins dampened, pencil annotations; spine slightly faded. Ref. Vercruysse, p. 78. TOGETHER 2 VOLUMES.
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