GALLEMANT (P.-B.). État abrégé de la Marine du Roy. Year 175 - Lot 32

GALLEMANT (P.-B.). État abrégé de la Marine du Roy. Year 1754. In-12, red morocco, fine gilt lace around covers with bird's iron in corner, coat of arms in center, ribbed spine decorated with coat of arms, blue moiré silk lining and endpapers, gilt edges (period binding). Collation: engraved title, 1 f. table, 187 pp. ch. 1 to 187. Delightful manuscript executed by calligrapher Pierre-Benjamin Gallemant (1701-1774) for Antoine-Louis Rouillé (1689-1761), Minister of the Navy from 1749 to July 1754. The volume opens with a general title calligraphied in brown or red ink within a rocaille frame in red ink enhanced with gold, then follows 5 parts, each announced by a title: - General list of naval officers according to rank & seniority as of July 1754: admiral, vice-admirals, squadron commanders, ship captains, lieutenants... - General list of flag and navy guards in order of seniority, year 1754. No information. - One hundred free companies of the Navy in January 1756. No information. - General list of officers maintained in the Navy. Year 1754. Title in a fine rocaille frame. These include Intendans de la Marine, Intendans des colonies, commissaires généraux, inspecteurs de la marine, commissaires ordinaires... The Intendants of the colonies include Bigot for Canada, Hurson for Martinique, La Porte La Lanne for Saint-Domingue... - Liste générale des vaisseaux du Roy, year 1754. Pierre-Benjamin Gallemant, master writer, worked in the naval officers' detail office from 1735, when Louis XV asked him to calligraph an annual État abrégé de la Marine du Roy, one in-8° format for the king, and one in-12 format for the minister in office. Most of these manuscripts are now preserved in public institutions: Service historique de la Marine in Vincennes, Versailles library, Mazarine library, Le Havre library, Bibliothèque nationale de France... They are rare on the auction market, and even rarer among booksellers. The binding, perfectly executed, is still very fresh. Dimensions: 124 x 80 mm. Provenances: G. Blumenthal (Cat., 1932, no. 23); Esmerian (Cat. II, 1972, no. 94, reproduction), with his bookplate.