Remarques sur l'Estat de L'Isle Dauphine au commencem[ent] de l'ann�e 1668, contemporary manuscript account in French on the situation and prospects of the Island of Madagascar, written by an unnamed officer or similar figure in the second fleet sent to the island by the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales, 36 pages written in a neat italic hand on laid paper, with Jesuit watermark of a circle with the letters IHS surmounted by a cross, and another watermark of a shield enclosing 3 small double-ruled circles, with the letters LL above, sheet size 270 x 195 mm (10.6 x 7.7 ins), bound in Middle Hill light brown plain boards (by Bretherton, with his printed ticket to front pastedown, dated 1850), slim folio Philipps Manuscript 3542. An early and highly important manuscript description of the state of the French Colony in Madagascar, which attempts to put the record straight in relation to the true prevailing conditions on the island, including the climate, coastal topography, water supply, availability of food and prevalance of tropical disease. The second fleet consisted of 10 ships which set sail from La Rochelle on March 14th 1666, under the command of the Marquis de Mondevergue, and included a total of 1589 people, including 421 officers and crew, 212 soldiers, and 956 merchants, settlers and craftsmen. After a long and hazardous voyage via Brazil and Table Bay, 9 of the 10 ships arrived in early March 1667. The manuscript describes the gradually worsening conditions for the colonists, bordering on starvation, and describes in detail the uncertainty regarding the arrival of ships of the fleet with provisions for the colonists at Fort Dauphin. The French King was to abandon the colony just two years later, by a decree of the 12th November 1670. The manuscript would appear to have been written around March 1668, as towards the end of the text, there is reference to the hoped-for return of the convoy that had been sent to Surat in October 1667, consisting of the Couronne, the Saint-Jean, and the Saint-Louis, which did not return to Fort Dauphin until June of 1668. (1)
Remarques sur l'Estat de L'Isle Dauphine au commencem[ent] de l'ann�e 1668, contemporary manuscript account in French on the situation and prospects of the Island of Madagascar, written by an unnamed officer or similar figure in the second fleet sent to the island by the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales, 36 pages written in a neat italic hand on laid paper, with Jesuit watermark of a circle with the letters IHS surmounted by a cross, and another watermark of a shield enclosing 3 small double-ruled circles, with the letters LL above, sheet size 270 x 195 mm (10.6 x 7.7 ins), bound in Middle Hill light brown plain boards (by Bretherton, with his printed ticket to front pastedown, dated 1850), slim folio Philipps Manuscript 3542. An early and highly important manuscript description of the state of the French Colony in Madagascar, which attempts to put the record straight in relation to the true prevailing conditions on the island, including the climate, coastal topography, water supply, availability of food and prevalance of tropical disease. The second fleet consisted of 10 ships which set sail from La Rochelle on March 14th 1666, under the command of the Marquis de Mondevergue, and included a total of 1589 people, including 421 officers and crew, 212 soldiers, and 956 merchants, settlers and craftsmen. After a long and hazardous voyage via Brazil and Table Bay, 9 of the 10 ships arrived in early March 1667. The manuscript describes the gradually worsening conditions for the colonists, bordering on starvation, and describes in detail the uncertainty regarding the arrival of ships of the fleet with provisions for the colonists at Fort Dauphin. The French King was to abandon the colony just two years later, by a decree of the 12th November 1670. The manuscript would appear to have been written around March 1668, as towards the end of the text, there is reference to the hoped-for return of the convoy that had been sent to Surat in October 1667, consisting of the Couronne, the Saint-Jean, and the Saint-Louis, which did not return to Fort Dauphin until June of 1668. (1)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
