Gramont, or GRAMMONT, PHILIBERT, COMTE DE, a celebrated French courtier, was born in 1621.
His grandfather was husband to 'la belle Corisande', one of the many mistresses of Henry IV. While still very young he distinguished himself as a volunteer under Condé and Turenne, and quickly became a favourite at the court of Louis XIV., from his handsome figure, lively wit, and wonderful luck at play. But his gallantries brought him exile from France in 1662. He found a pleasant refuge and congenial society among the merry profligates that thronged the court of Charles II. of England. Here he took his share in all the intrigues that formed the sole occupation of those gilded reprobates of both sexes who modelled their morals on the king's. He married, but not without compulsion, Elizabeth Hamilton, sister of Count Anthony Hamilton, with whom he afterwards returned to France, there to live as he had lived in England. Ninon de l'Enclos said he was the only old man who could affect the follies of youth without being ridiculous. At eighty he inspired his memoirs or at least revised them when written by his brother-in-law, Anthony Hamilton (1646-1720). This strange book is a remarkable revelation of a world of intrigue and villainy, saved from detestation only by its brilliancy and wit. It is written with equal grace and vigour, and its portraits are among the best materials for the domestic history of the time. Gramont survived till 1707. His Mémoires was first printed anonymously in 1713, and an English translation by Boyer was published in 1714. The work, though actually the composition of a foreigner, is an acknowledged French classic, and has often been reprinted, sometimes in forms as sumptuous as the editions by Renouard (1812) and Gustave Brunet (1859). The best English editions are Edwards's (1793), Malleville's (1811), Bohn's (1846), and that published by John C. Nimmo in 1889.