The King's Chevalier; A Biography of Lewis Littlepage

442, [4] pages. Includes Illustrations. Appendices: Bibliography, Notes, and Obituaries, and two Indexes. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. Lewis Littlepage persuaded John Paul Jones to fight the Russians; Gave Military advice to Potemkin; Loaned money to Madame de Lafayette and served as emissary of Stanislas II Poniatowski, lst king of Poland. Lewis Littlepage explored and experienced almost every aspect of European life and politics, and shared in many of the earthshaking events of the final quarter of the eighteenth century-- the French Revolution, the triumphs of Catherine the Great, the obliteration of Poland, the rise of Napoleon. Intellectuals shared his company-- Beaumarchais, Rivarol, Thomas Paine. Men of action--Field Marshal Suvorov, Lafayette, Thaddeus Kosciuszko-- sought and used his talents. The present author's discovery in the Polish and other archives of data on Littlepage's life, an important figure at last emerges. Curtis Carroll Davis was a Baltimore writer and critic with an interest in espionage stemming from World War II service as a military interrogator. Mr. Davis' books included three biographies: "Chronicler of the Cavaliers: A Life of the Virginia Novelist Dr. William A. Caruthers;" The King's Chevalier: A Biography of Lewis Littlepage;" and "That Ambitious Mr. Legare: The Life of James M. Legare of South Carolina." He was a prolific contributor of articles and reviews to scholarly magazines and newspapers. He earned his bachelor's degree in English literature from Yale University in 1938. He received a master's degree in English and comparative literature in 1939 from Columbia University and a doctorate in American and English literature from Duke University in 1947. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to air intelligence, with a specialty of interrogating German prisoners of war. He served in North Africa and Europe, and for six weeks was the only Allied air intelligence interrogator at Anzio, Italy. A major at 30, he was awarded the Bronze Star for the information he obtained from the crew of a German plane that crashed on the edge of St. Nazaire, France. In April 1945, Mr. Davis was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services' counterespionage section and carried out missions in England and Italy. From 1947 to 1949, he was operations officer on the Italian desk of the Central Intelligence Agency. He served in the Army Reserve until 1976, when he was discharged as a lieutenant colonel. Louis Littlepage or Lewis Littlepage (1762-1802) was an American diplomat, who most notably served in the royal court of the last Polish King, Stanis aw August Poniatowski. After distinction in studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Littlepage first went to Europe in 1780 under the head of the American delegation to Spain, John Jay. He fought and was wounded in the invasion of Minorca in 1781, while acting as a volunteer aide de camp to the Duc de Crillon. During the sea battle of the Great Siege of Gibraltar, Littlepage was an observer aboard the Spanish fleet; he made extensive notes and sketches that were well received at the Spanish court. The assault that took place however was a huge defeat for the Bourbon allies; Littlepage was on board a floating battery that was sunk, but he was saved. Subsequently in Cadiz, he met the Marquis de Lafayette with whom he journeyed to Paris in 1783. Littlepage first met Thomas Jefferson in Paris and subsequently continued on to Poland, where he advanced quickly. He was sworn in as First Confidential Secretary to the King, with the rank of Chamberlain in 1786. He was heavily involved in Polish and Russian affairs for the rest of his professional career. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing.…