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LOUIS XIV AT VERSAILLES AND BATTLES IN AMERICA & SPAIN, WITH MAP & PLAN
[ALMANAC - WALL PRINT]. Le Merite Recompensé par Louis le Grand dans la Distribution des Dignitez de l'Eglise et des Charges de l'Etat[.] Et les expeditions militaires de l'année 1695. ... Almanach pour l'année bissextile M. DC. XCVI.
Paris, Nicholas Langlois I, [1695]. Engraved scene on 2 large sheets (together 85 x 57 cm) with 14 smaller compartments in 10 cartouches containing scenes, a map and the plan of a Canadian fort, all showing events of 1695, and an almanac for the leap-year 1696 printed letterpress in red and black in a blank space with a decorative frame left for that purpose.
| Orders and Information | € 3950 |
A spectacular print showing events of the year 1695, the main part showing Louis XIV at Versailles (with a view of its Orangerie through the windows) at the height of his power, awarding honours to ecclesiastical dignitaries on his right and noble military officers on his left. Most of the insets below the main scene show events in the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-1697). These include a map of the regions around Fort Kenoque and Ypres showing the positions of the troops, three views of Catalonia, a plan of Fort Bourbon on the Hudson Bay (Fort York, captured and renamed by the French in 1694), showing its recapture by English troops (the French recaptured it in 1697, the English in 1713, and it was torn down in 1715), and several other views of battles on land and at sea. The largest shows the bombardment of Brussels. The whole was designed to hang on a wall, much like a modern wall calendar. Those shown receiving honours include Charles-Maurice Le Tellier, Archbishop of Reims, Louis-Antoine de Noailles, being named Archbishop of Paris, François Fénelon, being named Archbishop of Cambrai, Pierre-Armand Du Cambout de Coislin, being named Cardinal, Louis-François de Boufflers, being named Duke, François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, being made Captain of the Gardes, and various others. The large scale shows the clothing of the King, Dauphin and other dignitaries in great detail. The latest events date from October 1695 and the whole was probably published in November.
Around 1660 several engravers and publishers in the Rue St. Jacques in Paris introduced large wall almanacs in this style. Langlois, engraver and map publisher, was one of the earliest, publishing such an almanac in 1664.
In very good condition, with four small holes near the corners of the calendar, not affecting the letterpress or the engraved views. Folded across the middle. A magnificent historical wall print and almanac, with views of French battles in America, Spain and the Spanish Netherlands.
