L'Orpheline Angloise, ou Histoire de Charlotte Summers - Fielding - 1751

4 volumes, 147 x 82 mm., pp. [II], IV, 315; [ii], 328; [ii], 283; [ii], 345.

Frontispiece engraved by P. Andine in each volume, calf binding of the time, gilded flat backs with floral motifs, gilded slices, triple gilded fillets on the dishes, headdresses and slightly worn corners.

At the arms of Anne-Marguerite-Gabrielle de Beauvau-Craon Maréchale de Lévy Mirepoix.

The English original, on which this French version is modelled, is often attributed to Sarah Fielding.

Very nice example of this set.

"The Marshal of Mirepoix, appreciated by Louis XV, was part of his inner circle; Friend of Madame de Pompadour and, later, of Madame du Barry, she gravitated in the direct entourage of the sovereign who knew very well how to reward the Marshal of his , <complaisance>Her role as a friend of the favorite did not earn her only friendships, since her brother and the whole Court judged severely the help she brought to the new favorite. The complacency of the Marshal is explained, in large part, by the lifestyle she led because the thing was no secret to anyone at Court, the Marshal loved luxury and ruined herself at the game". "The Prince of Ligne says of her in his letters: <She had this enchanting spirit that provides something to please everyone. You would have sworn that she had only thought of you all her life>. The catalogue of his library was published in 1792 and contains 721 issues. There are some nice books. Most are bound in tawny calf; some are covered with morocco." (Ernest Quentin-Bauchart, Les femmes bibliophiles de France) "The Marshal of Mirepoix, who, from the principle of her favour (that of Madame de Pompadour), had slipped into her privacy, obtained from her, on the death of her husband, twenty thousand pounds of pension, the office of captain of the guards for M. de Beauvau, her father, and the government of Brouage for M. de Lévis-Lérans, heir of M. de Mirepoix. It is true that it was repeated everywhere that Madame de Pompadour rewarded in her a kind of servant; he was accused of having received, in his beautiful little hands, the pits of the cherries which the Marquise sometimes ate in her car; Finally, it was claimed that, oblivious of what she owed herself and her name, she placed herself on the bench at the front of the carriage, while the favourite was alone seated at the back; but these were calumnies, and the bad tongues poisoned very simple facts in themselves, the details of which can be read in the Memoirs of Madame de Hausset." (E. Campardon, Madame de Pompadour et la Cour de Louis XV, 1867, Paris, H. Plon, p. 70)