The gallimaufry of brilliant and high-flavoured gossip about the court
of Charles H, entitled the Memoirs of the Comte de Gramma, which Anthony Hamilton wrote, assisted probably by the reminiscences of his brother-in-law, the Comte de Gramont, has been long and abundantly known to all that are interested in the history of the seventeenth century. It is only therefore necessary to record the appear- ance of a new translation of the Memoirs by Mr. Peter Quennell, which Messrs. Routledge publish at 15s. To this edition Mr. Cyril Hartmann, who has brOwsed at large in the field of seventeenth-century history and letters, has added an excellent introduction, short biographies of the leading figures alphabetically arranged, and a useful commentary which explains or corrects certain historical allusions and clears up the chronology of the Memoirs. The reproduced portraits are also an important feature of the book. Hamilton is quite frank with his readers : " My one intention in writing (he declares) is the delectation of the more frivolously minded sort," and so he begins to tell his story of a courtier-cad.
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