DEIDIER (the abbot). *The Perfect French Engineer, or Offens - Lot 58

DEIDIER (the abbot). *The Perfect French Engineer, or Offensive and Defensive Fortification*. New edition, corrected and expanded to include the *Account of the Siege of Lille* and the *Account of the Siege of Namur*. Paris, Charles-Antoine Jombert, 1742. Quarto, marbled calfskin, richly decorated spine, red title label, red edges (contemporary binding). An excellent treatise on fortification first published in 1734, written for the instruction of the eldest son of the Duke of Croÿ. Frontispiece by Cochin the Younger, engraved by Gallimard; a floral medallion on the title page; 4 header vignettes engraved by Soubeyran after Sébastien Le Clerc; a colophon; and 50 fold-out plates, including a map of Luxembourg and its fortifications. A lovely copy: note the decoration on the spine, adorned with a beautiful repeated floral motif depicting two birds on either side of a vase of flowers, and at the bottom, a palette depicting a deer hunter. A copy belonging to Gaston de Roquemaurel (1804–1878), with his signature on the title page: this naval officer and explorer from Toulouse was notably Dumont D’Urville’s second-in-command during the Astrolabe’s second circumnavigation (1837–1840). Minimal scuffing on the binding; one corner is crushed.

Estimate:$688.7

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