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Mémoires du comte de Grammont
Title page of the first edition in 1713
AuthorAntoine Hamilton
LanguageFrench
GenreMemoir
Published1713
PublisherPierre Marteau (Cologne)
Publication placeFrance
Pages426 (1st Edition)

The Memoirs of Count Gramont is a book by Anthony Hamilton, published in 1713. The book pretends to be the memoirs of the comte Philibert de Gramont, the author's brother-in-law and friend but essentially is the "love life of the English Court" ("l'histoire amoureuse de la cour d'Angleterre") as its subtitle says. Despite being a native English speaker, Hamilton wrote his book in French and it has become a classic of French literature. The book is written in a light and elegant style and tries to please and amuse its readers. The book does not flatter its hero and is immoral in the sense that it does not disapprove when protagonists are naughty or mean: all seems to be allowed as long as it is witty and elegant.

Author

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Anthony Hamilton, the book's author, grew up in Ireland during the Confederate Wars, then lived in exile in France during Oliver Cromwell's rule, returned to England with the Restoration of Charles II, lived at the restoration court where he met Philibert de Gramont, who married his sister, was dismissed from the army as a Catholic, went into a second French exile during which he served in the French army, returned when James II acceded the throne, fought in the Williamite war in Ireland and went into a final, third French exile after the Battle of the Boyne. He then lived at the exiled Stuart court at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He started the work on the memoirs during a visit in 1704 to his friend Gramont at his château at Séméac where his friend gave him the materiel concerning Gramont's life before his arrival in at the English restoration court. This concerns the siege of Trino, the live at the court of Savoy, the Siege of Arras.[1]

It is the first published work of its author, who started writing it at the already advanced age of 59 during a visit to his friend Gramont at the château of Séméac.

This work made Hamilton one of the classical writers of France.

The tone of the work is light and playful. By highlighting the brilliance of the London Restoration court of his youth, the book throws into relief the lacklustre nature of the exiled Stuart court at Saint-\Germain-en-Laye where he lived at his old age while writing the book. It has even been said to share something with the anti-Jacobite polemic written against the court of James II at St Germain by John Macky.[2][3]

The work is situated at the cross-roads of memoirs, biography, and fiction.

The book is situated at the turn of the 17th to the eighteenth century. Memoirs were in fashion.

Plot

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The main thread of the book describes part of the life of Philibert, chevalier de Gramont from the time when he leaves the house of his parents about in up to his marriage. As such it could be the memoirs of Gramont during that part of his life.

The description found in the Contents of the book gives an outline of the plot in guise of description of the contents of the book's eleven chapters.

Title

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The book's title varies slightly from one edition to the other in its original French form and in its English translation.

Year Publisher Location Title Subtitle
1713 Pierre Marteau Cologne Mémoires de la vie du comte de Grammont Histoire amoureuse de la cour d'Angleterre sous le règne de Charles II
1714 J. Graves London Memoirs of the English Court, during the reigns of K. Charles II. and K. James II. The amorous intrigues of K. C. and K. J. ...
1783 J. Dodsley London Mémoires du comte de Grammont
1805 Colnet Fain Mongie Paris Mémoires de Grammont
1810 William Miller London Mémoires du comte de Grammont
1812 Memoirs of Count Grammont

==Chapters The main thread of the book describes the life of Philibert, chevalier de Gramont from the time when he leaves the house of his parents up to his marriage. The description found in the Contents of the give an outline of the plot in guise of description of the contents of the book's eleven chapters.

Chapter Description
Chapter 1 Grammont and his servant are introduced
Chapter 2 Arrival of the Chevalier de Grammont at the siege of Trino and his general life
Chapter 3 Experience and adventures of the Chevalier de Grammont before his arrival at the siege of Trino
Chapter 4 His arrival at the Court of Turin and description how he passed his time
Chapter 5 His return to the Court of France. His adventures at the siege of Arras. His response to Cardinal Mazarin and his exile from the Court of France
Chapter 6 His arrival at the Court of England. Character of the personages composing the Court
Chapter 7 He falls in love with Miss Hamilton, describes various adventures at a ball to the Queen, and the curious journey of his valet to Paris
Chapter 8 The burlesque story of his Chaplain Poussatin. Description of the siege of Lerida. Marriage of the Duke of York with Miss Hyde and other particulars of the Court of England
Chapter 9 Various intrigues and love affairs at the Court of England
Chapter 10 Other intrigues and love affairs at the Court of England
Chapter 11 Return of the Chevalier de Grammont to the Court of France, his reminiscences of the English court, and various intrigues and love affairs of the personages mentioned in his memoirs and of the court generally

Hamilton maintains that he wrote down the book as dictated by Gramont, but few reviewers accept this without reserve. It might be more or less true of the first five chapters.

Style

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The book starts with the sentence (as translated by Horace Walpole):

As those who read only for amusement are, in my opinion, more worthy of attention than those who open a book merely to find a fault, to the former I address myself, and for their entertainment commit the following pages to press, without being in the least concerned about the severe criticism of the latter.[4][5]

Editions

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French editions

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First edition (1713)
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The work was first published anonymously in 1713, apparently without Hamilton's knowledge. The imprint states that the book was printed by Pierre Marteau in Cologne.[6] It is unlikely that such a printer ever existed. Janmart de Brouillant (1888) gives a long list of books with this imprint or variations thereof: Pierre Marteau, Pierre du Marteau, Peter Hammer etc. The Mémoires du comte de Grammont appear on this list.[7] Many of these books are erotic or sexually explicit, or at least were considered as such at the time. Printers used this imprint to hide their identity when printing forbidden books. The following is a bibliographique description of the first edition as digitised by Internet Archive on a book in the Zaharoff Collection at the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford:

  • Hamilton, Anthony (1713), Mémoires de la vie du comte de Grammont (in French), Cologne: Pierre Marteau
Dodsley London 1783
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This edition is dedicated to Madame Marie de Vichi, marquise de Ferrand. It already includes the Epitre.

Auger edition (1805)
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Louis-Simon Auger has edited the Oeuvres çomplètes d'Hamilton in three volumes. The first contains a Notice sur la vie et les oeuvres d'Hamilton.

  • Hamilton, Anthony (1805), Auger, Louis-Simon (ed.), Oeuvres complètes d'Hamilton (in French), vol. 1, Paris: Colnet, Fain, Mongie, Debray & Delaunai
Illustrated Two-Volumes London edition (1810)
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This edition was published in London but the text is in French. It is richly illustrated. It comprises two volumes. The first volume includes a biographical sketch, engravings by Edward Scriven, chapters 1–6, and notes.

The following is a bibliographic description of the two volumes of this as digitised from books in the Boston Public Library which are from a new edition published in 1811:

Renouard Edition (1812)
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Antoine-Augustin Renouard has edited the Oeuvres du comte Antoine Hamilton (1812) in three volumes;

others are Gustave Brunet's (1859), and among the English, Edwards's (1793), with 78 engravings from portraits in the royal collections at Windsor and elsewhere. There are also A. F. Bertrand de Moleville's (2 volumes, 1811), with 64 portraits by Edward Scriven and others, and Gordon Goodwin's (2 vols., 1903).

The original 1713 edition was reprinted by Benjamin Pifteau in 1876.

Lescure edition (1876)
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The Lescure edition offers an introduction by François Adolphe Mathurin de Lescure at the beginning and notes by the same person at the end. Some copies include a portrait, but not the one described below. The following is a bibliographique description of the Lescure edition as digitised from a book in the library of the University of Ottawa:

English translations

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The first English translation is the one by Abel Boyer, which appeared in 1714. The reference below is for the 2nd edition published in 1719 as digitised by Google:

Over 30 further editions followed. Even if this translation has been severely criticised, but it cannot be that bad as Abel Boyer was a well known translator in his time and has published an English-French dictionary.

Walpole's translation is the classical one and used in many editions. It seems it has been published in 1773 at Strawberry Hill Press, but I have not found this 1st edition. The reference below is for the 1888 edition:

Peter Quennell's retranslated the Memoirs in 1930. It was published accompanied with extensive commentary by Cyril Hughes Hartmann.

Biographical Sketch

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Many editions of the Mémoires include a biographical sketch or Note biographique. An early example is the 1811 edition.

Notes and references

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  1. ^ La Chesnaye des Bois 1866, p. 641, left column, last line: "... à la levée du siège d'Arras en 1654"
  2. ^ Callow 2004, p. 232 & 239.
  3. ^ Michelet 1877, p. 56: "Ce badin Hamilton ..."
  4. ^ Hamilton 1888, p. 31.
  5. ^ Hamilton 1713, p. 3: "Comme ceux qui ne lisent, que pour se divertir, me paroissent plus raisonnables que ceux qui n'ouvrent un Livre que pour y chercher des défauts, je déclare que, sans me mettre en peine de la sévere Erudition de ces derniers, je n'écris que pour l'Amusement des autres." sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFHamilton1713 (help)
  6. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 884, right column, line 32: "The work was first published anonymously in 1713 under the rubric of Cologne, but it was really printed in Holland at that time the greatest patroness of all questionable authors."
  7. ^ Janmart de Brouillant 1888, p. 135: "Mémoires de la vie du comte de Grammont, contenant l'histoire particulièrement amoureuse de la Cour d'Angleterre sous le règne de Charles II."
    • Mémoires de la, vie du comte de Grammont contenant parliculièrement l'histoire amoureuse de la cour d'Angleterre sous le règne de Charles II was printed in Holland with the inscription Cologne, 1713. Other editions followed in 1715 and 1716. Memoirs of the Life of Count de Grammont . . . translated out of the French by Mr [Abel] Boyer (1714), was supplemented by a “Compleat key" in 1719. The Mémoires “augmentées de notes et d'éclaircissemens” was edited by Horace Walpole in 1772. In 1793 appeared in London an edition adorned with portraits engraved after originals in the royal collection. An English edition by Sir Walter Scott was published by H. G. Bohn (1846), and this with additions was reprinted in 1889, 1890, 1896, &c. Among other modern editions are an excellent one in the Bibliothégue Charpentier edited by M. Gustave Brunet (1859) Mémoires . . . (Paris, 1888) with etchings by L. Boisson after C. Delort and an introduction by H. Gausseron: Memoirs... (1889), edited by Mr H. Vizetelly; and Memoirs... (1903), edited by Mr Gordon Goodwin.
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