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painting of a man standing in a field next to a pile of hayan image of a painting of a group of men working in a fielda painting of a group of men walking down a dirt roada book with a drawing of a street scene inside of itan image of a painting of a house in a fieldan old book with a blue bird on it sitting on top of a table
Maître Paul PASTAUD

996 - [First World War]. Sketchbook. Dixmude, Steenstraete (Belgiu…
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Estimate €250 - €300
Sale commission
Description
[First World War]. Sketchbook. Dixmude, Steenstraete (Belgium), 1914–1915. Oblong 12mo (12.3 x 19.3 cm) comprising (33) folios, plus 5 blank folios; beige cloth, drawstring closure (contemporary binding). A collection of 43 drawings, including 10 watercolours, produced during the First World War. They depict soldiers crossing a bridge or taking cover in a trench, stretcher-bearers carrying a wounded man, a church, a lighthouse on the coast, a patient in a hospital ward with nurses, a barricade on a bridge, soldiers crossing a stream, soldiers at rest or carrying a cooking pot, a battlefield and a village with bodies lying about, a night-time battle with an explosion in the distance, fencing scenes, etc. The author of this sketchbook, who remained anonymous, added captions to some of the drawings: Trench at the top of St Julien on 7 and 8 February 1915; Steenstraate Bridge, 3 March 1915; trench at Steenstraate Bridge, 3 March 1915; in the cellar waiting for the stretcher-bearers; Rouen Hospital, Monday 10 May to Saturday 15 May; in front of the Dixmude Bridge; washing clothes; barricade at the Dixmude Bridge in December 1914 (when turning the volume over), etc. There are also a few comments; for example, regarding the hospital in Rouen: ‘Anglade, my neighbour on the right, a bullet that went through his head. – Darnis, my bed neighbour, leg severed near the thigh’, or again: ‘To wash a shirt and a pair of underpants full of lice, the cook Goury has just boiled them in the squad’s pot; straight afterwards, he makes the coffee in the same container, which he is about to serve.’ Wounded by a shell fragment to his right temple, the author suffers from several conditions affecting his right eye, which he records in his notebook: “Right eye: irregular pupil, synechia, incomplete cataract, extensive chorioretinitis, macular lesions…”. His visual acuity in that eye was then 1/30. Whilst in hospital in Angoulême on 22 July, his sight deteriorated further and was reduced to light perception. On 14 December, he noted that vision in his right eye was completely and permanently lost; vision in his left eye was normal. Situated on the Yser, in western Belgium, Dixmude was the scene of bloody clashes during the First World War: when the German army arrived in October 1914, the Belgians flooded the region by opening the locks on the Yser, thus turning the river into a front line. Admiral Ronarc’h’s Marine Fusiliers Brigade played a heroic part in the defence of the town, where it lost half its men. This brigade subsequently fought at Steenstraete and Nieuwpoort (Belgium) until its disbandment in November 1915. A moving account of the fighting in Belgium in 1914–1915. Inner edges split; small ink stain on the top cover.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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