375-VILLEBRESME (Chevalier de). Souvenirs, (1772-1816). American War. Emigration. First published by Viscount Maurice de Villebresme. Paris, Nancy, Berger-Levrault, 1897, in-8, VII-199 pp, portrait-frontispiece, red half-maroquin, ribbed spine, gilt fillets, cover preserved (period binding). "Most of these souvenirs are devoted to the campaigns in America under Louis XVI. The Revolution is dealt with on pp. 129-183: emigration and the war with Condé's army in 1793-1794. The author returned from emigration in 1797. He disdainfully passes over the Empire in silence, before ending his reminiscences with a few pages on the Restoration." (Fierro). Chevalier de Villebresme (1755-1849) took up arms with the Musketeers, from where he can give some details of the King's household. He soon moved on to the navy, where he took part in the first battles off the coast of Brittany. After a short stay on the Spanish coast, and a return to Brest, he was ordered to leave for America in April 1780, and recounts his campaign, particularly the siege of Yorktown. Returning to France after a stay in the West Indies, he took part in writing the cahiers de l'ordre de la noblesse du Blaisois. He emigrated in 1791, arriving in Coblentz in November and enlisting in his original corps, the Musketeers. He joined Condé's army in January 1793 and took part in numerous battles against the Republicans until 1797. Dismissed from the army of the Princes, he returned to France, his bitterness causing him to interrupt his diary, leaving posterity only a few notes on 1814-1815. Fierro, 1469. Tulard, 1489. A fine copy.