here - Ashley Baynton-Williams
here - Ashley Baynton-Williams
here - Ashley Baynton-Williams
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F[rancaise].’<br />
B: 603 x 917<br />
14. ‘Côte Orientale d'Angleterre, depuis Lowestoft et jusques L'Humber ... l’An VI de la République.’<br />
[with the engraved stamp of the Dépôt with initials] ‘R[épublique]. F[rancaise].’<br />
B: 877 x 614<br />
7<br />
THE WOODEN WALLS<br />
15. ‘Carte Reduite de la Rade des Dunes avec une partie des entrées de la Tamise ... Par M. Bellin ... 1757.’<br />
[with the engraved stamp of the Dépôt with initials] ‘R[épublique]. F[rancaise].’<br />
B: 588 x 424<br />
16. ‘Carte Particuliere de la Mer d'Irlande appellée communement Canal S.t Georges ... l'An VI de la<br />
République.’ [with the engraved stamp of the Dépôt with initials] ‘R[épublique]. F[rancaise].’<br />
B: 899 x 605<br />
17. ‘Carte Reduite de l'Entrée de la Mer d'Irlande et du Canal de Bristol ... l'An VI de la République.’ [with<br />
the engraved stamp of the Dépôt with initials] ‘R[épublique]. F[rancaise].’<br />
B: 568 x 912<br />
The French Are Planning On Coming<br />
[Sequence of 17 Charts of the Coastal Waters of the British Isles Published by the Dépôt des Cartes, Plans et<br />
Journaux de la Marine].<br />
Paris: Dépôt des Cartes, Plans et Journaux de la Marine, [various dates of first publication, from 1693 -<br />
1797/1798]; copperplate engravings, various sizes, dissected and laid on the official French ochre linen, and<br />
folding into two purpose prepared book-style slipcases, labelled 'CARTE DES CÔTES D'ANGLETERRE, 1'<br />
[&] 'CARTES DES CÔTES D'ANGLETERRE 2.'<br />
As a set, generally in very good condition for dissected maps; each chart has a vellum index tab, labelled in<br />
contemporary manuscript, each chart with the original bookplate stamped with a short title and owner's<br />
name, 'BARON REILLE'. Chart 1 with small area of loss in the upper border; chart 8 with rodent damage at<br />
the bottom corners and centre of one panel; chart 10 with water stain affecting the 'Remarques', other sheet<br />
with very minor staining, but overall very good examples.<br />
The seventeen charts in this collection comprise a comprehensive coverage of the coastal waters of the<br />
British Isles, most particularly the southern approaches from the Continent. Several of the charts are dated<br />
Year VI of the Republic (l'An VI de la République), representing the most up-to-date charts then available<br />
from the French Admiralty's Hydrographic Office, supplemented by printings of charts from older plates<br />
still in circulation, notably by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin Sr. from the 1750s, but even one chart first published in<br />
1693, a hundred years earlier.<br />
The bookplate present on all of the charts is that of Baron Honoré-Charles-Michel-Joseph Reille (1775-1860),<br />
an important figure in Napoleon Bonaparte's army and someone who is frequently encountered in the<br />
history of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). He fought in many of Napoleon's major battles including Jena,<br />
Wagram, Friedland (w<strong>here</strong> he was aide-de-camp to Napoleon), Quatre Bras and Waterloo. He was also<br />
present during the Spanish campaigns in 1812-1813, commanding the French Army at Vittoria (thus<br />
fortituitously missing the Russia Campaign). He was later made a Maréchal of France and is buried in Pére<br />
Lachaise cemetery in Paris, in the tomb of his father-in-law, Jean-André Masséna, 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st<br />
Prince d'Essling, the greatest of Napoleon's marshals.<br />
In view of the provenance, it seems highly likely that this two-box set was a special commission for Reille,<br />
acquired in anticipation of an invasion of the British Isles. However, while one would like to imagine Reille,<br />
and perhaps even Napoleon himself, poring over these very maps in preparation for the invasion, it should<br />
be said that this set of charts is virtually unopened, and without annotation.<br />
In 1797, Napoleon, then a general, was ordered to plan an invasion of England, but he determined that the<br />
French fleet was too weak for the task. Instead, he decided to strike at British interests by invading Egypt.<br />
However, that expedition failed with Nelson's destruction of the French fleet at the battle of the Nile (items<br />
3ff.). Napoleon also made preparations to invade England between 1803 and 1805. These preparations,<br />
involving a fleet of 2,340 ships and barges to transport an invasion force of some 168,000 men, came to<br />
naught when the joint Franco-Spanish fleet was destroyed by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar (items 10ff),<br />
ensuring unchallenged British dominion on the high seas.<br />
£8,000