Information
12-YEAR-OLD LOUIS XV BESIEGES FORT MONTREUIL
[ALMANAC - WALL PRINT]. Les Premieres Exercices Militaires de Louis XV Roy de France et de Navarre par le siege du fort de Montreüil, et les revuës des troupes du Camp de Porché-fontaine, proche Versailles le 19 Septembre 1722. ... Almanach pour lAnnee MDCCXXIII.
Paris, François-Gérard Jollain, [1722]. Large, wholly engraved wall print (79 x 52 cm plus the title above and caption below) including an almanac for the year 1723, with 1 large and 3 smaller scenes of events from the year 1722. Printed from two copperplates on two large sheets.
| Orders and Information | € 3500 |
Spectacular engraved wall print and almanac, dominated by a scene showing the twelve-year-old King Louis XV on his first military exercises, besieging Fort Montreuil, near Versailles, accompanied by the regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans; Louis's governor François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroi; and three others, all on horseback, with the besieged fort in the background. In an elaborate cartouche at the foot of the scene is a scene of the King visiting the trenches the day before. Flanking it are two smaller scenes from the two days following the siege. The almanac itself appears on a panel at the foot of the print, with its own title at the head of the panel.
Around 1660 several French engravers in Paris's Rue St. Jacques introduced large wall almanacs in this style, including the Jollain family. Until about 1712 the almanac itself was printed letterpress, either on or pasted over a blank space left for the purpose in the print. In the present example the almanac is incorporated into the engraving itself, at the foot, giving the whole a more uniform treatment.
In very good condition, with only a couple tiny defects at the head, slightly affecting three letters in the title. A magnificent wall print and almanac, glorifying King Louis XV's first military exercises.
