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a candle that is lit on a white tablea small book with a coat of arms on ita book with writing on it sitting on a tablesomeone is holding an open book with writing on itan open book with writing on it sitting on a tablean old map of the city of cambridge, massachusetts is shown in a bookan open book with a map of a town on it
ENCHERE PREMIUM

171 - FAULCONNIER, Pierre. ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT: The most noteworth…
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Estimate €800 - €1,500
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Description
FAULCONNIER, Pierre. ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT: The most noteworthy notes from the Historical Description of the City of Dunkirk, a maritime city and port of great renown in Gallican Flanders, detailing its origins and development, the conversion of its inhabitants to Christianity; the appointment of its first magistrates; its sieges; the upheavals to which it has been subjected; and the transfers of ownership made in favour of various princes. No place, no date (c. 1720). 8vo. 3 blank folios, title page, 340 pp., 1 folio, 2 fold-out maps, drawn and painted in watercolour. Full vellum Bradel binding with overlapping covers, the coat of arms of the town of Dunkirk painted on the upper cover. (Binding signed Lavaux). Ex libris from the Château de Montaren. A major historical document. An original preparatory manuscript or a copy of the manuscript by Pierre Faulconnier, the first great historian of Dunkirk and Grand Bailiff of the city, who published in 1730 in Bruges, in two volumes, a monumental work tracing the history of Dunkirk from its origins (the year 646) to the end of the great era of Louis XIV and the Treaty of Utrecht (a period ending around 1717–1719). This preparatory manuscript for the work details Dunkirk’s transformation: the mythical founding of the town by Saint Eloi and the construction of the first church in the dunes (Dunkercke) around 646; the successive periods of rule: the Flemish, Burgundian, Spanish and English periods prior to the city’s definitive purchase by Louis XIV in 1662; the golden age and its decline: The exploits of the privateers (including Jean Bart), Vauban’s major fortification works, followed by the dreadful Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the Treaty of The Hague (1717), which forced France to completely demolish the fortifications and fill in the harbour. The tragic fate of this original manuscript of Pierre Faulconnier’s work: the 37 original manuscripts bequeathed by Pierre Faulconnier to his town were almost entirely destroyed in the great fire at the Dunkirk municipal library on 23 April 1929. This manuscript is undoubtedly one of the few to have survived that disaster. A very fine manuscript, perfectly laid out, neat and legible. EXPERT: Mr GIARD
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About the sale ESPRIT DUNKERQUE SALE #2 – BOOKS and REGIONALISM: Dunkirk, Flanders and the surrounding area
Auction location
Auction time 10/31/2026 at 10:00 AM
Ref. : v0483 - 47
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