[HARLAY (François de)]. Le Mercure de Gaillon. With introduc - Lot 296

[HARLAY (François de)]. Le Mercure de Gaillon. With introduction by Nicétas Périaux. Rouen, Imprimerie de Espérance Cagniard, 1876. Small in-4 red half-chagrin, spine ribbed and decorated, gilt title, gilt head, gilt fillet (rel. post.). Several small brown spots. Reprint by the Société rouennaise de bibliophiles of this collection of 24 extremely rare pieces, composed on the orders and under the watchful eye of François de HARLAY, archbishop of Rouen, and a veritable instrument of the power of this ambitious and worldly ecclesiastic. They were printed separately at the Château de Gaillon in 1643 and 1644, on the private press he had installed and whose management he had entrusted to the illustrious Henry Estienne, fourth of the name, interpreter to the King (see Renouard, les Estienne, p. 228). This collection evokes the rise of François de HARLAY de CHAMPVALLON (1625-1695), then archbishop of Rouen, and future archbishop of Paris in 1671. The debate between Gallicanism and ultramontanism, the tensions between Richelieu and the secular and regular clergy, are clearly apparent, as are the maneuvering skills of Harlay, who later supported Mazarin, and became one of Louis XIV's principal religious advisors, and the leader of the Gallicans. He persecuted Mme Guyon, as well as Port-Royal, and was instrumental in abrogating the Edict of Nantes. Finally, in 1684, he celebrated the King's secret marriage to Mme de MAINTENON. Several pieces extol the beauties of the Château de Gaillon, built in part during the Renaissance and now located in the Eure department. Ex-libris J.M.