Dieu et Patrie ! Souvenirs d’un volontaire de l’Ouest.
[vers 1872]
In-8 (225 x 140 mm), (2) ff, 244 pp, midnight blue half-basin, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, speckled edges; some wear to binding (Period binding).
Probably the only surviving copy of this rich account of the enlistment and service of a young volunteer soldier from the West.
Entirely autographed and illustrated with a few compositions, the author recounts in 24 chapters the war in which he took part, his enlistment in the 4th company of the 3rd battalion at Le Mans, his Chassepot bayonet rifle, his comrades and superiors, the Papal Zouaves, the descendants of Charette and Stofflet, his travels in the West, and of course the Prussians.
"My aim is not to invent a novel of pure fantasy; there is no such thing as the simple statement of a fact stripped of all fabulous exaggeration. My intention is therefore to relate, very imperfectly no doubt (memory is so unfaithful), the vicissitudes in the midst of which I lived during four months of a campaign at the height of winter, and the impressions I was able to bring back. I wish to preserve in this account an entire truth, a character of frankness and authenticity that removes the slightest doubt."
1 800€
In stock
Contact us