Louis the Fourteenth and the Court of France in the Seventeenth Century
London: Richard Bentley, 1847. Illustrated. Hardcover. Inlaid throughout and extra illustrated into 6 Vols with the insertion of 450 portraits and numerous views including many in coulour, with printed title pages and index to the illustrations specially printed for this copy. With a superb tipped in autographed letter from the author concerning one of her books. Illustrated by IOHN. D. Fry and book plates of F. E. Dinshaw. This set is beautifully bound in full red crushed levant, elaborately gilt the tooling is quite exquisite and mirrors the height of opulence awarded to such a well put together Extra Illustrated set of books on Louis the XIV and the Court of France. Bound by Rivière and Son. Resent almost invisible and expert joint repairs to some of the volumes. The inside is clean crisp and presents its self verywell. This incredible set was also in the collection of Sylvester Stallone a keen antiquarian book collector and prolific screenplay writer. FE Dinshaw, Framroze Edulji Dinshaw, was the second son of the Karachi landowner and philanthropist Seth Edulji Dinshaw, and was one of prepartition India's most prominent businessmen and lawyers. He died in January 1936. FE Dinshaw took over and expanded upon his father's landholdings in Mumbai. The FE Dinshaw Estate was, in 2002, the largest private landowner in Mumbai, with a total holding of 2,200 acres. It is today administered by industrialist Nusli Wadia He played a key role in the foundation of the Indian cement business, pioneering a merger between ten companies owned by Tata, Khatau, Killick Nixon and Dinshaw, so as to form Associated Cement Companies Limited. He was closely associated with the Tata Group, being described by J. R. D. Tata as "the most brilliant man" he had ever met. He lent huge sums of money to the Tata Group during the 1920s which, over the years, were converted into equity. By 1936, the year of his death, he owned some 12.5% of the group. Upon his death in January that year, this stake was sold by his heirs and trustees to Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, a construction magnate who had overseen the building of FE Dinshaw's residence in Pune, which was designed by the architect George Wittet. The shareholding is now owned by billionaire Pallonji Mistry. FE Dinshaw's residence in Pune is now the Tata Management Training Centre. Dinshaw floated F.E. Dinshaw & Co, a financial company, and was one of Bombay's top financiers. He was the financial advisor to the Fifth Maharaja of Gwalior, Madho Rao Scindia, who built the Samudra Mahal palace at Worli in order to accommodate frequent trips to Bombay to see him. In the cotton industry alone, FE Dinshaw had 30 directorships in the 1920s. Near Fine. Item #168
Price (USD): $6,750.00