GALARDI, Ferdinand de. La tyrannie heureuse ou Cromwel politique.Aves ses artifices & intrigues dans rout le cours de sa conduite. "Leiden: Jan Pauwels" [i.e. Brussels: Foppens]. 1671.
12mo. Contemporary vellum, spine faintly lettered in ink, pp. [xxviii], 108, with additional title designed and engraved by Thaysses; vellum a little darkened, light browning and mild spotting in places; a very good copy.
First edition, uncommon, complete with the additional title, this issue without errata and Pauwels spelled "Pauvvels" on the title-page.
Ferdinand (or Fernando) de Galardi was a Spanish diplomat at the French and English courts, author of several works on politics and diplomacy. In La tyrannie heureuse (The Fortunate Tyranny), he exposed Cromwell's anti-Catholic policies and autocratic rule. The opening chapter compares Cromwell to Cesare Borgia and Cardinal Richelieu, before offering a detailed, blow-by-blow account of his meteoric rise to power through the Civil War and the abolition of the monarchy. Subsequent chapters describe the devastations in Scotland and Ireland, as well as the persecution of Catholics.
Willems, Annexes 2065.
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