1830 Pair of The Life and Times of Francis The First, King of France by James Bacon. This is a second edition, Complete in two volumes. They are bound in full purple calf leather with decorative spines. There is one engraving of King Francis at the front of the first volume.
Overall they are in great condition for their age! There is some light foxing on the first pages of each book… but this is common in older books. There is also some light marks or imperfections in the leather from use over time.
**Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a legitimate son.
A prodigious patron of the arts, Francis promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa, which Francis had acquired. Francis's reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of the French language, Francis became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres (the 'Father and Restorer of Letters').
