BACKGROUND: Larmessin was one of a family of celebrated Parisian publishers

BACKGROUND: Larmessin was one of a family of celebrated Parisian publishers, booksellers, and engravers who were responsible for several collections of portraits of royalty and notable individuals, including Tableaux historiques, ou sont graves les illustres francois et estrangers de l'un ou l'autre sexe (c. 1662), and Les Augustes Representations de tous les Roys (c. 1688). I have seen engravings from the same series elsewhere dated c. 1685; this example may be from an earlier or somewhat later printing of one of these collections. It is, however, quite evidently a late-17th printing and *not* a modern reproduction. Under the caption, the engraving reads "A Paris Chez P Bertrand Rue St Jacques a la Pomme d'or Proche St. Severin. Avec Privil du Roy [Louis XIV]"