[Rarebooks] fs: Diamond Necklace Affair -18th Century Publications

[Joslin Hall Rare Books, ABAA]

[Diamond Necklace Affair]  A Bound Collection of Pamphlets Issued by 
Individuals Involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace.

Paris; 1786-1792.

An attractive period assemblage of a group of the printed pamphlets, 5 (of 
6) issued by some of the figures in the Diamond Necklace Affair, comprising-

“MEMOIRE pour Le Comte de Cagliostro, Accuse; Contre M. L 
Procureur-General, Accusateur; en prefence de M. le Cardinal de Rohan, de 
la Comtesse de la Motte, & autres Co-Accuses”.

Paris: 1786. In which the Count Cagliostro defends himself.



“REPONSE pour le Comtesse de Valois-la-Motte, au Memoire du Comte de 
Cagliostro”.

Paris: 1786. In which the Countess wages a counter-attack against 
Cagliostro by pointing out what a fraud he is.



“MEMOIRE a Consulter, Pour Jean-Charles-Vincent de Bette d’Etienville, 
Bourgeois de Saint-Omer en Artois, detenu es prisons du Chatelet de Paris, 
Accuse; Contre le Sieur Vaucher, Marchand Horloger, & le Sieur Loque, 
Marchand Bijoutier a Paris, Plaignans”. Paris: (1786).

“SUPPLEMENT et Suite Aux Memoires du Sieur de Bette d’Etienville, Ancien 
Chirurgien Sous-Aide-Major, Pour servir de Reponse aux differens Memoires 
faits contre lui”.

Paris: 1786. Jean Charles Vincent de Bette d'Étienville became involved 
when he persuaded the Baron de Fages-Chaulnes to marry one of Cardinal 
Rohan’s mistresses, as a result of which the Baron ran up a steep debt with 
Vaucher & Loque, a pair of jewelers. As the Baron was involved in an 
intrigue with the Cardinal, and had also been used as a fence for the 
diamonds, and the prevailing mood was “arrest everyone”, d’Etienville found 
himself a defendant... This eventually also involved the innocent Comte de 
Precourt (see below).



“REPONSE de M. le Comte de Precourt, Colonel d’Infanterie, Chevalier de 
l’Ordre Royal & Militaire de Saint Louis; aux Memoires des Sieurs 
d’Etienville, Vaucher & Loque”.

Paris: 1786. Comte de Précourt, a widely-traveled and distinguished 
infantry colonel, was swept into the Affair when he guaranteed the debt of 
his fellow soldier, the Baron de Fages-Chaulnes. Again, the “arrest 
everyone first and sort them out later” ethic prevailed, and le Comte 
became a defendant.



“MEMOIRE de M. de Calonne, Ministre d’Etat, Contre le decret rendu le 14 
fevrier 1791 par l’assemblee se disant nationale”.

Charles Alexandre de Calonne was a friend of the de Polignacs, intimates of 
Marie Antoinette, and succeeded the popular Jacques Necker as Finance 
Minister. Necker had favored borrowing over taxes and brought the country 
to the edge of bankruptcy, but Colonne’s plan to correct this by taxing the 
nobility caused his sacking. Necker was brought back one last time and his 
second firing was the spark that led to the storming of the Bastille. 
Colonne and Necker engaged in a furious “pamphlet war” for several years. 
Here Colonne defends the du Polignacs against a judgment of 800,000 livres 
related to the debt.



Hardcover. 8.5”x10.5”, 51 + 48 + 30 + 69 + 42 + 36 pages; decorative 
headpieces; bound in old period flame-grained boards with a new leather 
spine; covers rubbed and worn; contents with some soil, browning, and a few 
scattered spots.  [07837]  $1,200.00

More on the Diamond Necklace Affair-
<http://www.joslinhall.com/diamond_necklace_affair.htm>




JOSLIN HALL RARE BOOKS, ABAA
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