THE ROYAL MISTRESSES OF FRANCE, OR, THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMOURS OF ALL THE FRENCH KINGS
London: printed for Henry Rhodes at the Star, 1695. First English Edition. Octavo, [4], 228, 260 pages, [3] ads; VG; bound in early gilt morocco, rebacked with a matching paneled gilt spine; headband slightly loose; bookplate to front pastedown; all edges of text block gilt; title page with archival repair to top edge, having been trimmed, open tear to lower fore edge, lower fore corner with a chip missing; pages 97-112 with hand-corrected page numbers; some soiling and wear to pages; pages 115/116 and 117/118 with minor archival repair. Early hand wrote 'Hot' on page 1, above 'Amours,' Use of Hot as "full of sexual desire, lustful" dates to c. 1500, while the sense of "inciting desire" is c. 1800. MW consignment; shelved case 3. More