Manuscripts and Manuscript Annotations to the History

Abstract

At first glance, the printing history of Jacques-Auguste de Thou’s History of His Time leaves one with a sense of satisfaction. After a long series of incomplete, altered, and pirated editions in the seventeenth century, de Thou’s History was restored to its original form by diligent workers in the early Enlightenment, de Thou’s allies in the cause of historical truth and service to posterity: the editors of the sumptuous London edition of 1733. But this impression is deceiving. As we turn from the printing history to the compositional history of de Thou’s work, we shall learn that much has been omitted and more has been inadequately or incorrectly classified in the London edition, the best text of de Thou’s History which we have at present.