(French Revolution, Bastille, Man in the Iron Mask.) [Quinti...

Hammer

£140

(French Revolution, Bastille, Man in the Iron Mask.) [Quintin Craufurd]: 'The History of the Bastile: With a Concise Account of the Late Revolution in France. To Which is Added, An Appendix, Containing, Among Other Particulars, An Enquiry into the History of the Prisoner with the Mask.', London, T. Cadell, 1790, 1st edition, large engraved folding frontispiece plan of the Bastille (with closed tear and toning but else intact), 437,[1]pp + errata leaf at end, old half calf gilt. The author, Quintin Craufurd (1743-1819), settled in Paris before the age of 40 with a handsome fortune after service in the British East India Company. Craufurd was on intimate terms with the French court, especially with Marie Antoinette, and was, alongside his lover Eleanore Sullivan, one of those who arranged the flight to Varennes. The Man in the Iron Mask (died 19 November 1703) was an unidentified prisoner of state during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. Warranted for arrest in July 1669 under the pseudonym of "Eustache Dauger", he was incarcerated on 24 August and held for 34 years in the custody of the same jailer, Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, in four successive French prisons, including the Bastille. His true identity remains a mystery, even though it has been extensively debated by historians, several 19th century historians have concluded the prisoner was Italian diplomat Ercole Antonio Mattioli (1640-1694). Scarce