HAESTENS, Henrick Lodewijksz van.
La nouvelle Troye ou memorable histoire du siege d'Ostende le plus signalé qu'on ait veu en L'Europe. En laquelle sont descripts & naïfvement representés en diverses figures, les assauts, deffenses, inventions de guerre, mines, contremines, retranchemens, combats par terre & par mer & autres choses remarcables, advenues de part & d'autre, avec ce qui s'est passé par chascun jour durant le-dit siege depuis le 5 Juing 1601 jusqu'au 20 Septemb. 1604 qu'elle fut renduë. Recoeuillie des plus asseurés memoires.
Leiden, Louis Elzevier, 1615. 4to. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of Maurits van Nassau, an engraved vignette on title-page, engraved coat of arms of Maurits van Nassau on the back of title-page and 12 (of 14) folding engraved plates. Gold-tooled red morocco (ca. 1885), richly gold-tooled spine, gilt edges (Riviere & son). [10], 293[= 295], [1] pp.
€ 2,500
First edition of the French translation of one of the earliest accounts of the famous siege of Ostend, Belgium, by the Spanish army. For more than three years (1601-1604) the Spanish Royal Army laid siege to the town and finally conquered it. The siege took so long because the town could still get its supplies by sea and because the army of the States General, under command of Maurits van Nassau, tried to distract the Spanish army by besieging surrounding cities. When Ostend surrendered, the town was no more then a ruin due to all the acts of war that had taken place. The folding engraved plates show the city's fortifications, the Dutch and Spanish fleet, the different stages of the siege, and siege engines, including "Pompee's Chariot".
With bookplate and the owner's inscriptions. Slightly browned, first few leaves stained, marginal thumbing throughout and some occasional (water)stains, smudges and manuscript notations. Lacking 2 of the 14 folding plates, as noted above. Otherwise a good copy. Muller, Historieplaten 1215A; Willems 99; cf. A.E.C. Simoni, The Ostend story (2003).
Related Subjects:
