Rare account of the second year of the successful French campaign in Brabant and Flanders (1745-1747), from the library of Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Joséphine. The work focusses on the victories of Maurice of Saxony (1696-1750), Maréchal de France, a general in the service of France in Brabant and Flanders during the War of the Austrian succession (1740-1748) against Empress Maria Theresa. It offers an account of the major engagements of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1746, and the Siege of Brussels in January-February 1746. It also details the movements in Brabant, de Kempen, and the Namur region, and has been illustrated with plans of the Battle of Fontenoy (11 May 1745, near Tournai), and the Battle of Rocoux (11 October 1746, near Liège).
The work has been bound in a remarkable binding, which was made for the library of Napoleon Bonaparte at the manor house Malmaison, 15 km west of the centre of Paris. The house was bought by his wife Joséphine in 1799, who also installed the library. The binding, which has also been used for several other works from the Malmaison library, has been attributed to Charles-Pierre Bizouard in the Rue des Carmes at Paris, and was likely made shortly after 1799. There are several interpretations of the monogram "PB" at the tail of the spine. The most probable interpretation is that the initials refer to Pauline Bonaparte, the sister of Napoleon, who donated a number of books to her brother when he departed for Egypt in 1798.
The present work was written by Jean Baptiste Joseph d'Amarzit de Sahuguet, chevalier d'Espagnac (1713-1783), brigadier in the French army. The first edition appeared in 1748 with the same publisher and was published in 3 volumes. The present copy is the second volume of the second edition, which focuses primarily on the year 1746. However, the present copy includes the plan of the Battle of Fontenay, which is normally part of the first volume. DEspagnac was the aide-de camp of Maurice of Saxony, whose more complete biography he published in two volumes in 1773: Histoire de Maurice, comte de Saxe ... maréchal-générale des camps & armées de Sa Majesté ... (2nd ed. in 3 vols. in 1775), his main historical work.
The spine is somewhat rubbed, the joints and foot of the spine have been restored. Several leaves are slightly foxed. Otherwise in very good condition. Cioranescu, XVIII, 27 856; STCN 302262989 (1 copy); cf. for the binding: Anne Lamort, Reliures Impériales. Bibliothèque napoléonienne de Gérard Souham, pp. 49-52; Eug. Olivier, G. Hermal & R. de Roton, Manuel de lamateur de reliures armoriées françaises (1924-1938), pl. 2653, tool 3.