MELVILLE, James.

£850 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Memoires: First edition of the memoirs of the Scottish diplomat, "among the most important sources for British history in the second half of the sixteenth century, through the light they shed on the human qualities of the leading actors on the public stage" (ODNB).The binding, in a very good state of preservation, has the device of Henry Yelverton, elevated in 1690 as 1st Viscount de Longueville (1664-1700). On the initial binder's blank verso is the ownership signature "B Talbot March ye 10th 1683" - Barbara Talbot (1671-1763) married Yelverton in 1689, though the early date implies it was probably her mother Barbara Talbot (born c.1633). "Yelverton amassed a substantial library, whose extent is not known, but many volumes are traceable today in libraries around the world, in English, Latin, Italian and Spanish, with imprints from the early 16th century to the late 17th... [Yelverton's] stamp was often applied to books irrespective of their binding when acquired... Books with the HL stamp are also sometimes found with inscriptions of other members of the Yelverton family" (Book Owners Online).Melville (1535-1617) served as diplomat for Mary Queen of Scots and all four regents in the minority of James VI, afterwards retiring from public life and writing his memoirs. This edition was published by his grandson, George Scott of Pitlochie. Walter Scott, in his History of Scotland, stated they may "justly be compared with the most valuable materials which British history affor

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