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101
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[Manuscript] [Empire] DEMANCHE (Jean-Louis).
See original version (French)
101
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[Manuscript] [Empire] DEMANCHE (Jean-Louis).
See original version (French)
Estimate €300 - €500
Voluntary lot
Description
[Manuscript] [Empire] DEMANCHE (Jean-Louis). An Account of My Captivity in Spain. One volume, in-8, full red morocco, decorated ribbed spine, gilt title on the front cover framed by corner fleurons. Unpaginated (128 handwritten pages).
A precious family manuscript copy, produced in 1885 by Alfred Huvet-Demanche from the family archives, based on the account of captivity written in 1818 by his grandfather Jean-Louis Demanche.
Born in Reims in 1788, Jean-Louis Demanche joined the War Office in 1806 and was appointed the following year as provisional assistant to the commissioners of war. Sent to Spain in April 1808 and attached to the 2nd Division of General Dupont’s corps, he was taken prisoner during the campaign that was to end with the capitulation of Bailén.
In this text, J.L. Demanche recounts the two years of captivity he spent, notably on the Spanish pontoon ships in the roadstead of Cádiz, followed by his escape by swimming alongside a cuirassier officer on 16 May 1810.
Alfred Huvet-Demanche explains the background to his transcription in his preface:
‘My grandfather, Jean-Louis Demanche, was born in Reims in 1788. As a Quartermaster-General under the First Empire, he was taken prisoner in Spain following the disastrous capitulation in 1808. He spent nearly two years on the pontoon ships in the harbour of Cádiz. On 16 May 1810, he managed to escape by swimming, and owed his survival solely to the devotion of one of his friends, an officer in the Cuirassiers, who had escaped just as he had. Eight years later, whilst stationed at one of his garrisons (in Alsace), he wrote down some notes on his captivity in Spain. I have collected these precious notes with reverent respect (...).”
Long unpublished, this account was first published in 1926 in the *Carnet de la Sabretache*, nos. 303–305, under the title *Account of my captivity in Spain in 1808, 1809, 1810*.
Tulard, *Critical Bibliography of Memoirs on the Consulate and the Empire*, no. 419.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Antique and modern books: catalogued sale
Auction location
Auction time
11/14/2026 at 10:30 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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