Famianus Strada / P. Du-Rier - Histoire de la guerre de Flandre - 1675

Famiano Strada (1572-1649), an Italian Jesuit and professor of rhetoric at the Roman College, was commissioned in 1617 by Ranuccio Farnese, Duke of Parma, to write this history of the Dutch War. To this end, he had access to the now-defunct private archives of the Farnese house, a consultant to letters from princes, instructions to ambassadors and spy reports, which he cited extensively in his account as so many state secrets. Composed in Latin under the title De Bello Belgico and published in Rome between 1632 and 1647, the work was to form three decades; the third never saw the light of day, its publication having, it is said, been prevented by the Spanish court. Written to the request and praise of the Farnese, the text adopts a decidedly pro-Spanish point of view that was very indisposed to Dutch readers of the time. The success was European, with translations into English, Italian and Spanish; this French version is by Pierre Du Ryer (1605-1658), a translator and playwright with a view to the sixteenth century. This volume, dated 1675, corresponds to the third volume of a set in four volumes as listed by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Estimate:£127.14

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