273-[MORE DE PONTGIBAUD (Charles-Albert de)]. Mémoires du Comte de M... précédés de cinq lettres, ou considérations sur les mémoires particuliers. Paris, Victor Thiercelin, [Imprimerie de H. Balzac], 1828, in-8, (4)-319 pp., frontispiece, red half-maroquin with corners, ribbed spine, gilt head, cover and spine preserved (Canape). A rare first edition of these memoirs printed by Balzac. Frontispiece, a lithograph by Engelmann showing a view of the fort of Pierre Cise. The verso of the title page bears the words Imprimerie de H. Balzac, rue des Marais, S.-G. n° 17. Most of these memoirs deal with the American War of Independence. A restless character, Moré found himself imprisoned by his family at Saint-Lazare, then by lettre de cachet, at Pierre-Encise, from where he made a fantastic escape in August 1776. It is with this episode that his story begins. From there, he left for the United States, where circumstances brought him into close contact with La Fayette, whose aide-de-camp he became. On a second trip to the United States, he took part alongside Rochambeau in the Battle of Yorktown. Logically, he emigrated at the start of the French Revolution, spending time in Switzerland and Germany. He returned to the United States once more in 1799, where he served alongside Talleyrand. The book had a very limited circulation, with only around a hundred copies published. The introduction to the second edition of 1898 states that "today, a copy of the Mémoires du Comte de M. is almost impossible to find on the market". The letters that follow his account are from his cousin, the Comte de Salaberry. Fierro, 1190. Tulard, 1062. Unknown to Sabin. Bound at the head is a 4-page L.A.S. from Pontgibaud, the author's grandnephew, dated September 17, 1900, offering the work and giving valuable information on the book's history: "The reason for this rarity is quite simple: in 1828 my grandfather was a peer of France and feared that many of the characters still alive... he bought back the entire edition shortly after it appeared. Only a few copies had been bought. My grandfather had them put in the attic, where dampness, rats and worms finally got the better of them. I salvaged what I could from the wreck. A fine copy.