Relation de ce qui s'est passé à Namur

In-folio of (1) leaf, 44 pp. and 3 colored plans of the period.

Red morocco, Du Seuil-style decoration with fleurs-de-lis at the corners, gilt armorial stamp at center, spine richly gilt with fleurs-de-lis, decorated edges, polychrome paper endpapers and doublures, gilt edges over marbling. Binding of the period.

357 x 237 mm.

Racine, Jean. (1639-1699). Account of What Happened at the Siege of Namur. With Plans of the Attacks, the Arrangement of the Lines, and the Movements of the Armies.

Paris, Denys Thierry, 1692.

Extremely rare first edition of this “tragic intrigue” by Jean Racine, historiographer to King Louis XIV since 1677.

It is missing from Jean Bonna’s collection, who owns the “Abridged History of Port Royal”, a more common posthumous first edition without royal provenance.

The name Racine conjures up the great classics assigned for a semester on school benches. Yet Racine was also Louis XIV’s historiographer, a career he began in 1677. Present alongside the king during his great feats of arms, Racine was expected to recount them officially. And this is what he did during the battle pitting the Sun King against the League of Augsburg by giving us the account of this remarkable tragic intrigue.

“The city of Namur was chosen, according to Racine, for its importance in the Spanish Netherlands, and Louis XIV himself very clearly justifies this choice:

This city [...] must still be considered the bulwark of the remainder of the Spanish Netherlands.

According to Racine, 120,000 men waited in anticipation of battle, their impatience heightened by the secrecy surrounding an objective that was nonetheless close. Meanwhile, the ladies received visits from the king and attended military reviews and concerts of kettledrums, trumpets, and drums “in very great numbers with an appalling noise.” Racine was there, ready to feed the capital with detailed letters resembling press releases.

According to Racine’s account, the king decided single-handedly on the layout of the lines over five leagues, the choice of the different camps, and the division of the attacks: “The king, so as not to overburden his troops, attacked only the city at first.” But the enemy retreated, and French courage met only their delays, which Racine takes pleasure in describing (half of his account is devoted to them).

From reading Racine’s text and the gazettes, the king is the only true hero of this victory.

The capture of Namur, which unfolded in three stages without enemy armies engaging, reveals the sovereign’s qualities. In his letters, Racine can show greater autonomy and admiration for those the king eclipses. He pays tribute to two men, for very different and even opposing reasons. Of Vauban, he praises the prudence and knowledge that spare soldiers’ lives and ensure victory; of Louis, Duke of Bourbon (1668-1710), grandson of the Great Condé, and day lieutenant-general during the château’s assault, he highlights his boldness.

With Racine, the description of clashes is replaced by that of doubts, signs of the inner struggle experienced by William III. The action is no longer factual but psychological. Deprived of battle scenes, the reader must follow the winding paths of the reasoning of a war leader who wishes to fight but is dissuaded by his opponent’s strength. Racine turns the strategy of siege warfare into a tragic intrigue. And his Account celebrates the French will to fight, the only testimony of this warrior ardor said to be their prerogative.

Racine’s account, like the war paintings dedicated to the capture of Namur by Jean-Baptiste Martin, Sébastien Le Clerc, or even the etching by Nicolas Langlois, directs all eyes toward a single actor: King Louis XIV.

Works by Jean Racine bound in morocco with the arms of King Louis XIV are extremely rare and highly sought after.

Only one other copy listed in half a century in this condition: Jacques Guérin owned “Esther” in morocco with the arms of Louis XIV, but it was a reprint; the copy nevertheless fetched €60,000 thirty-one years ago, a remarkable price at the time (Ref. Livres exceptionnels – Paris, November 29, 1988, no. 34).

This same Jacques Guérin owned a second copy of Jean Racine in armorial morocco. An 18th-century two-volume edition of the works, bound in double morocco with the arms of Madame de Chamillart, which fetched the considerable sum of €76,000 thirty-five years ago (Ref. Très beaux livres anciens - Paris, March 29, 1984, no. 81).

This copy is now in the Jean Bonna collection.

Superb, remarkable and unique presentation copy in the original edition, bound with the arms of King Louis XIV, recorded on the market for half a century.

Printed on large Dutch paper, with immense margins, with the 3 period hand-colored plans, the volume is preserved in its contemporary royal binding, adorned with fleur-de-lis and the large arms of King Louis XIV.