[Courtilz de Sandras (Gatien de)]. Mémoires de Mr d'Artagnan - Lot 213

[Courtilz de Sandras (Gatien de)]. Mémoires de Mr d'Artagnan, capitaine-lieutenant de la première compagnie des Mousquetaires du roi. A Cologne, chez Pierre Marteau, 1700. 3 volumes in-12, (8)-564-(16of which the last is blank) +636-(12) +598-(16)pp. in marbled brown calf, ribbed spines with red title-pieces and beige head-pieces, gilded coats of arms in the center of the boards, ornate coupes, red edges; spines a little rubbed, corners dull (period binding). First edition of this historical novel mixing fiction and fact, by a writer who served for a time in the company of the Musketeers. One of Alexandre Dumas's sources of inspiration for Les Trois mousquetaires: the writer took on several of Courtilz's invented characters for his own work: Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Milady, and Cardinal de Richelieu's damned soul, Rochefort. Provenance: Philibert Bernard de LaVernette (gilded coat of arms on boards, iron missing from OHR).