[Pamphlets]. Set of 14 pre-revolutionary pamphlets. 8vo, mod - Lot 188

[Pamphlets]. Set of 14 pre-revolutionary pamphlets. 8vo, modern blank covers. 1/ The Appearance of Cardinal Alberoni. No place, no date [August 1788]. Slight water stain. 14 pp. Reproduction of a text published in 1771, and “can be regarded as a prediction of what is happening today [...] the shadow of Cardinal Alberoni was able to read the future, and was mistaken only with regard to the nobility.” 2/ Michel Blanchard. Letter from Michel Blanchard, Magister of the Village of Moivieux, to Monsignor Georges Le Franc de Pompignan, Archbishop of Vienne. No place, no date [August 1788]. 12 pp. This pamphlet follows the meeting of the Assembly of Vizilles (July 21, 1788), which drafted a proclamation calling for the convening of the Estates-General. It responds to a pastoral instruction from the Bishop of Vienne on the obedience owed to sovereigns. 3/ On the Influence of Provincial Administrations on Morals and Public Opinion. Published by Philantropie, and sold in Paris by the Merchants of Novelties, 1788. A small tear in the paper on one leaf, resulting in the loss of two letters. [1 f.], 46 pp. First edition. Very rare. 4/ On the Estates-General and Their Convocation; With a Chronology of the Estates-General, by Savaron... Published in Villefranche, and available in Paris at the Newsstands, 1788. [2 ff.], 76 pp. First edition. The full title continues as follows: “and an analysis of the famous Estates-General assembled at Tours, which includes the order and names of the Deputies by Bailiwick, etc. A new outline followed by a list of the best printed or manuscript works that provide information regarding the National Assemblies and the Estates-General, and the locations where they can be found.” The author provides a historical overview, detailing the procedures for their appointment and convening. He reviews those held from 1467 through the last ones in 1614. 5/ (Cardinal Fleury). Letter [- Second / Third] Letter to the Council of Louis XVI. Second edition. Amsterdam, 1788. 29 pp., [1 f.]; 22 pp.; 32 pp. An apocryphal text, dated “Champs-Élysées, June 1788,” since Cardinal de Fleury, a minister of Louis XV, had died in 1743. 6/ Grand Bailiwick of Rennes. No place, no date [1788]. [1 f.], 19 pp. First edition. A scathing pamphlet signed by J.F. Grippe-sou against Bertrand, Intendant of Rennes, who was in charge of recruitment for the Grand Bailiwick. 7/ Letter from M. de Lamoignon to M***, State Councilor. No place, no date [1788]—4 pp. First edition. A curious pamphlet supposedly written by Lamoignon to explain how he had made his protégé Albert a State Councilor and a member of the Council of Dispatches “in less than eight days.” 8/ Letter from the Pope to the King. Sent from Rome on September 7, 1788. No place, no date [1788]. 7 pp. First edition. Apocryphal text: “This letter is in the style of the papal chancery; but it was never sealed with the Fisherman’s ring […] This letter is truly a fictitious letter,” reports the *Correspondance littéraire secrète* in the year of its publication. Rare. 9/ Letters to Mr. Necker, Minister of State and Director General of Finance. No place, no date [1788]. 27 pp. First edition. The first letter, dated August 5, follows Necker’s publication of his *De l’importance des opinions religieuses*. The second, dated August 28, 1788, follows his recall from the ministry by Louis XVI. They are signed B***. 10/ [Michel-Ange-Bernard Mangourit]. *Le Tribun du peuple, au peuple*. Paris, 1788. 42 pp. First edition. An interesting text written by a former lieutenant in charge of criminal cases at the Rennes Presidium and a supporter of absolute monarchy. 11/ Mon coup-d’œil. No place, no date [1788]. 32 pp. First edition. This pamphlet follows the “lit de justice” of May 8, 1788 (reform of the Parliament of Paris, dissolution of the provincial parliaments, creation of the grand bailiwicks and the “cour plénière”). 12/ The King and His Ministers, Dialogues. No place, no date [1788]. 48 pp. First edition. A fictional dialogue between Louis XVI and Loménie de Brienne on absolute monarchy and the king’s lack of legitimacy to exercise legislative power alone. 13/ M. Tignel. *Le Triomphe de la Basoche*, a poem in five cantos and in verse. Paris: Published by booksellers of novelties, 1788. 42 pp. First edition. 14/ Abbé Vélin. Apology for the Plenary Court... No place, no date [1788]. 15 pp. First edition. The Parliament of Paris, being too turbulent, was exiled to Troyes in 1787. On May 8, 1788, it was summoned to Versailles for a “lit de justice,” and it was reduced to a single Grand Chamber and a Chamber of Inquiries, with all other parliaments being abolished. In their place, the Grand Bailiwicks were created to administer justice. The right of registration was entrusted to a plenary court. Vélin was the pseudonym of Jean-Philippe Garran de Coulon, who published under that name. His pamphlet, full of sarcasm and mockery, had a profound effect on the public.