Histoire du prince Ragotzi, ou la guerre des mécontents sous son commandement.

LE NOBLE, Eustache (attributed). Histoire du prince Ragotzi, ou la guerre des mécontents sous son commandement. À Cassovie, chez François Lancelot, 1707. 12mo, 346 pp., engraved frontispiece depicting Prince Ragotzi. Contemporary binding in brown sheepskin, spine with decorated raised bands, title label. Dampstains in the second half of the lower right-hand part of the volume, not affecting the text. Old restoration to the lower board. Rare first edition, devoted to the Hungarian revolt led by Prince Francis II Rákóczi (Voivode of Transylvania) against Habsburg rule at the beginning of the 18th century. The work is generally attributed to Eustache Le Noble, a French writer and polemicist close to circles favourable to the policy of Louis XIV. Published at the height of the Hungarian war of independence (1703-1711), the book traces the origins of the insurrection of the "malcontents" (Kuruc), the youth and rise of Prince Ragotzi, and the first military campaigns against the imperial troops. The narrative combines historical information, political considerations and elements of propaganda favourable to the insurgent leader. The imprint "À Cassovie" (the old French name for Košice) is very probably fictitious, a common practice in the political publishing of the time; the printing is more likely Parisian or Dutch. This work constitutes one of the first printed biographies of Prince Ragotzi and a contemporary testimony to the Western perception of the Hungarian war of independence. A work sought after for the history of Central Europe and of French diplomacy under Louis XIV. Rare.