Letters (1694 – 1700) of Franois De Callires to the Marquis Dhuxelles

Description

This is the first publication of seventy-five letters from Francois de Callieres (1645-1717) to Marie de Bailleul, Marquise d’Huxelles (1626-1712) from a manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, ms fr. 24983. Most were sent from Holland, where Callieres has been sent by Louis XIV to negotiate what became the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). Callieres is the author of a seminal work on diplomacy, never out of print since its publication in 1716, “On Negotiating with Princes”, and after the signing of the Ryswick peace in 1697, he became the principal secretary to Louis XIV. Intended to divert as well as to inform, the product of an intimate friendship which was also a political alliance, the letters reveal Callieres to have been a moderate and thoughtful man, an admirer of the Dutch Republic and William III, as well as a loyal servant of the Sun King. He sends Huxelles literary and philosophical observations as well as political and diplomatic news, couched in a lively and spontaneous style. This edition breaks new scholarly ground in a number of areas, and suggests that the political influence of Huxelles and her Paris circle was greater than has previously been thought. It contains a preface by Professor William S. Brooks of the University of Bath situating the letters in historical context, as well as an introduction, extensive footnotes, a bibliography and an index in English, with the letters in the original French.