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MANUSCRIT. AUSTERLITZ. [General count Mathieu DUMAS].
See original version (French)
5
-
MANUSCRIT. AUSTERLITZ. [General count Mathieu DUMAS].
See original version (French)
Estimate €800 - €1,000
Voluntary lot
Description
MANUSCRIT. AUSTERLITZ.
[General count Mathieu DUMAS].
Lettres du général Dumas à S.A.S. Le Prince Joseph Pendant la Campagne de la Grande Armée, en 1805.
S.l.n.d. (after 1805).
In-4, (3) ff. including false-title, title, pp. 1-56, (4) ff. with a handwritten plan, pp. 61-128, (3) blank ff., (1) f. of "Table of contents" and a few quires of leaves left blank. Contemporary red half-basane, smooth spine decorated (slight wear, spine rubbed but inside fresh).
Very interesting unpublished manuscript, notably on the battle of Austerlitz.
Copy of correspondence and notes for personal archives with annotations by the general, from the period or slightly later.
Divided into 2 parts. Fine, legible writing in brown ink, approximately 22 lines per page on fine watermarked laid paper (one watermarked shell), text ruled in pencil, pages numbered by hand, left-hand side margin. A handwritten map of the area where the battle took place with detailed names.
Promoted to Major General in 1805, Minister of War in Naples under Joseph
Bonaparte, then Grand Marshal of the Palace and Grand Dignitary of the Royal Order of the
General Mathieu Dumas (1753-1837) was made a Count of the Empire in 1810. It was he who proposed the creation of the Légion d'Honneur.
The first part comprises 3 long letters from the general to Prince Joseph Bonaparte, with corrections by the general himself, describing the events of the Battle of Austerlitz and forming a chapter. It recounts "the development and conclusion of the first part of the vast plan for a war of invasion that the Emperor dared to undertake [...]". A richly detailed account of the positions and actions of the various generals in the action.
The second part with a map of the theatre of operations precedes the account entitled Bataille d'Austerlitz ou Notes sur la dernière partie de la Campagne de la grande Armée en 1805... It describes the rest of the battle, punctuated by a number of annotations in the margins, forming chapters (see Table in fine). The general indicates, for example, the positions and locations of generals and soldiers to help understand the narrative. Concludes with a brief paragraph describing the effects of the "mission of the Prince of Lichtenstein".
The text of this manuscript does not appear in full either in the Précis des événements militaires de 1799 à 1807 or in the Souvenirs du lieutenant-général comte Matthieu Dumas, 1770-1836.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
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