Louis Sebastien Mercer, 1740-1814, French man of letters. The first edition of the
Tableau de Paris was published in 1781 in two volumes. The second edition was in twelve volumes, of which Jefferson had only volumes one to
six. After he had declared himself to be the author of the work Mercier was compelled to take refuge in Switzerland. For other
works by him in this collection, see the Index.
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32
L’espion Anglois.
10. v.
12
mo.
1815 Catalogue, page 119, no. 20, as above.
[PIDANSAT DE MAIROBERT,
Matthieu François.]
L’Espion Anglois, ou Correspondance Secrete entre Milord All’eye et Milord All’ear . . . Tome Premier [-Dixieme]. A
Londres: Chez
John Adamson,
m. dcc. lxxvii-m. dcc. lxxxvi.
[1777-1786.]
D289 .M2
10 vol. 12mo. I, 237 leaves including the last blank; II[,] 200 leaves; III, 244 leaves; IV, 230 leaves, V, 197 leaves, folded
table; VI, 204 leaves, VII, 144 leaves; VIII, 252 leaves; IX, 246 leaves; X, 209 leaves; the last three volumes have on the
title-page:
Nouvelle Edition, revue, corrigée & considerablement augmentée
.
Barbier II, 175.
Quérard VII, 151.
Hatin, page 66.
Jefferson bought a copy from
Froullé in Paris on June 27, 1787, 10 volumes, price
10. broché.
The book is entered in Jefferson’s undated manuscript catalogue without price.
Jefferson sent a copy of this work to James Madison at the same time he sent the
Tableau de Paris
above. With regard to the
Espion Anglois, in the letter of August 2, 1787, quoted above, he wrote: “
. . . L’Espion Anglois is no Caricature. it will give you a just idea of the wheels by which the machine of government is
worked here. there are in it also many interesting details of the last war, which in general may be relied on. it may be considered
as the small history of great events. I am in hopes when you shall have read them you will not think I have mis-spent your
money for them. my method for making out this assortment was to revise the list of my own purchases since the invoice of 1785.
and to select such as I had found worth your having. besides this I have casually met with & purchased, some few curious &
cheap things . . .
”
Matthieu François Pidansat de Mairobert, 1727-1779, was the author of the first four volumes only of this work, originally published with the title
L’Observateur Anglois, in 1777 and 1778. In the following year, 1779, Pidansat de Mairobert committed suicide, after his supposed complicity in
the affairs of the Marquis de Brunoy. Pidansat de Mairobert was secretary to the King, and
censeur royal. Hatin’s note reads:
Les 6 derniers volumes, auxquels Mairobert est étranger, ne contiennent que des extraits des Mémoires secrets. [q.v. no. 3894].
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33
Les entretiens de l’autre monde.
2. v.
12
mo.
1815 Catalogue, page 119, no. 21, as above.
Les Entretiens de l’Autre Monde sur ce qui se passe dans celui-ci; ou Dialogues Grotesques et Pittoresques entre Feu Louis
XV, Feu le Prince de Conti, Feu M. Turgot, Feu l’Abbé Terray, Feu M. de Clugny, Feu le Comte de Muy, Feu le Comte de St. Germain,
Feu le Duc de la Vrilliere, Feu le Comte de Maurepas, et autres Personnages.
Londres [i.e.
Hollande],
m. dcc. lxxxiv. [1784.]
First Edition. 12mo. 206 leaves including the half-title (on which the word
Autre is written
Aurte[)].
Not in Barbier.
Not in Quérard.
Weller II, page 223.
Jefferson’s copy was bound in 2 volumes, and it is so entered by him in his undated manuscript catalogue, with the price,
8.0.
For an account of this work see the
Mémoires secrets pour servir a l’Histoire de la République de Lettres en France
[no. 3894] Vol. 25, page 285. One of the sourcebooks used by the anonymous compiler was
L’Espion Anglois
[q.v. no. 3891].
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