Arrest memorable, du parlement de Tolose, Content une histoire prodigieuse, de nostre temps, avec cent belles, & doctes Annotations, de monsieur maistre Jean de Coras, Conseiller en ladite Cour, & rap

by DE CORAS, JEAN

$14,000 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

Lyon: Antoine Vincent [Symphorien Barbier], 1561. First edition. contemporary limp vellum. Very Good. THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE - THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE JUDGE'S FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF A SENSATIONAL SIXTEENTH-CENTURY TRIAL FOR IDENTITY THEFT; THE BASIS OF NUMEROUS LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND CINEMATIC ADAPTATIONS. This case had everything - an unhappy marriage, a sudden disappearance and a mysterious return, an accusation of impersonation, a possibly complicit wife, a family and a village divided, two dramatic trials, the sudden appearance of a surprise witness at a moment in the second trial when acquittal seemed imminent, a sudden reversal of fortune, the defendant's conviction, his public apology (declaring the wife to be an innocent victim), and his execution in front of the home of the man he impersonated. It is scarcely surprising that the case has inspired, among other things, an essay by Montaigne and one by Leibniz, a novel by Dumas, a short story by Philip K. Dick, an opera, two fine films (a French one starring Gerard Depardieu and an American one transposing the action to the Civil War, starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster), at least two musicals, and countless historical novels and radio and television episodes. In 1548, Martin Guerre, a French peasant living in the village of Artigat in the département of Ariège, stole a small amount of grain and as a result was forced into exile. This turn of events was doubly tragic for Guerre, because he had just co

• Publisher: Antoine Vincent [Symphorien Barbier]
• Year: 1561
• Edition: First Edition
• Printing: first
• Binding: unknown

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