[TEMPLARS] DURDENT, Rene-Jean (1776-1819). Beaute de l'histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers de Saint-Jean...et de la histoire de Templiers. Paris: Dentu, 1820. Rare first posthumous edition of the historical work dedicated to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem and the Templars, published a year after the death of the author. The volume traces the history of the Order of St. John from its origins in the Holy Land to the transfer to Rhodes and then to Malta, illustrating its organization, military campaigns and the role played in the Mediterranean until the early 19th century. A second part is dedicated to the Templars, from the foundation to the suppression under Filippo the Beautiful and the papacy avignones. Edition of non-common available, not included in the catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and in OPAC. 12th (150 x 100mm). Antiporta incisa, 2 boards out of text. Coeva bonding in half leather, title and gold decorations, marbled plates. (1)