Histoire Abbregee de Tous les Roys de France, Angleterre et Escosse, mise en ordre par forme d'Harmonie: contenant aussi un brief discours de l'ancienne alliance, & mutnel secours entre la France & l'Escosse. A Paris, chez Jean Feurier, 1579.
An Abbreviated History of All the Kings of France, England, and Scotland by David Chalmers. Published by Jean Feurier in Paris in 1579 and printed by the authority of Henry III of France.
A VERY RARE FIRST EDITION WITH NO TRACEABLE SALES RECORDS BOUND IN ITS ORIGINAL FULL VELLUM BINDING FROM 1579 AD. A FANTASTIC WORK WITH PREDOMINANT FOCUS ON THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND AND MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
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This book was published in the wake of the Marian Civil War in Scotland which was a period of conflict following the abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1568 where supporters of the Queen fought against supporters of her infant son, James VI. The author, David Chalmers, is one of those accused of the murder of Lord Darnley and one of the persons who organised the escape of Mary Queen of Scots from Loch Leven Castle.
In May 1568, Chalmers was involved in helping Mary Queen of Scots escape from the castle and fought for her at the Battle of Langside alongside numerous Scottish noblemen. For these actions, the Scottish parliament exiled him and he was forced to leave Scotland for an extended period of time, not returning until 1584. During the time of his exile he first lived and associated with the court of Philip II in Spain and then in France in the court of Charles IX. It was during his time in France that this book was written and published, and hence the reason for its publication in French rather than English.
After the civil war had ended and while Mary remained captive, two significant full length books were published, setting out the context and events of the struggle and examining the historical and theoretical aspects of monarchical rule in Scotland. George Buchanan wrote De Jure Regni apud Scotos in 1579, and as a sympathiser of the Queen, David Chalmers wrote the book offered here for sale in the same year, 1579. This being the first edition.
These works, like Buchanan's 1572 History of Scotland, retold the stories of ancient Scottish Kings, many mythical who had been deposed justly or unjustly by their subjects and might be compared with Mary. Both Buchanan and Chambers were patriotic writers and shared a view of Scottish kingship largely drawn from myth, that the Scots had been a migrant people from Scythia who had elected their first king, Fergus I, in response to a crisis, 251 years after their arrival in Scotland.
This is an excellent example of this book, bound in its original vellum binding. Previously kept at the Chateau de Vouzan in France.
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Size: 115 x 170 x 40 mm (approx.)
Condition:
Original vellum binding toned and rippled as typical with a small amount of wormholing and a larger hole in the upper gutter of the front board. Ink title to the spine in a very early hand, presumably original to the binding. Lacks original ties as typical. Shelf lean. Some minor dampstaining throughout the book not affecting the legibility of any text. Small hole through title page not affecting text with another part in the upper left torn just catching part of a letter in the title. Toning throughout text block as commensurate with the age with a few leaves stained but mostly reasonably clean. Small edge tear to D7 (f.215). Wormholing in the gutter affecting pp.223 to the end of the book with some small loss to text with the entrance hole visible on the rear board just below a joint tie. 235 numbered leaves (incl. title page) + 5 leaves of tables at the end, collated as complete without blanks.
