Colbert was minister of the navy under Louis XIV, a position he gained from his father, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), an influential secretary of state known as Le Grand Colbert. The younger Colbert inherited his father’s extensive library of over twenty thousand volumes. Although he was not too interested in expanding the collection, this volume is one of several that can be directly tied thim. Tachard, a Jesuit missionary and mathematician, wrote Voyage to Siam after several trips to the region (modern-day Thailand) as a French envoy; of interest to Colbert may have been the account’s firsthand insight into a place where France had imperialist aims.
Eloi Levasseur (act. 1636–1700), binder
Red morocco, with gilt armorial, on: Guy Tachard (1651–1712) Voyage de Siam, 1686
PML 198286