Sélection Bibliorare
Collection d’estampes représentant les événements de la guerre pour la liberté de l’Amérique septentrionale. Paris, F. Godefroy & N. Ponce, [1784], oblong 4to, cont. quarter vellum (paper covers sl. rubbed), flat spine, engraved
Estimation :
€3000/4000
Adjudication :
Invendu
Description
title engravings, cont. tissue guards (some minor spotting, unobtrusive worming in the gutter of pls. 5-10 not affecting the images). In excellent condition. Cfr. ill. The first French book to name the United States on the title (Howes). this collection of engr. plates provides a visual history of some of the key events of the recently concluded american revolution. they were engraved by nicolas Ponce and François godefroy, after designs by Fauvel, Marillier, Le Paon and other notable French artists of the period. The views include several small vignettes on 1st and final plates (military and naval engagements); the capture of a tax-collector; the Battle of Lexington; Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga; the taking of Senegal, Grenada, Tobago and Dominica; the capture of Pensacola by Galvez; Cornwallis’ surrender; the skirmish at St- Eustache; the siege of Fort St-Philippe in Minorca; the attack on St. Christopher; a map of the various European settlements in what became the United States, with some population statistics; 4 sm. maps of the english concessions to France and spain by the treaty of 1783 (a composite map of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Barbary, Minorca, and Tobago); the final leaf consists of a review of the Treaty of Versailles, with a list of the principal officers killed or wounded in the war, several sm. vignettes and a listing of all the plates. it was issued to commemorate the role of the French military in the events described. apparently one of a few proof copies issued with a simple engr. title containing the address of the engravers and with some plates unnumbered. Ref. Sabin 68422. Howes c-576.
