Lot n° 98
Estimation :
500 - 700
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 200EUR
GUIBERT Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de (1743-1790) offi - Lot 98
GUIBERT Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de (1743-1790) officer, tactician and writer.
autograph manuscript, [Journal de voyage en Bretagne, 8-11 August 1778]; 33 pages in-4 in 2 quires.
A very interesting account in the form of a diary, kept by Guibert, a member of Broglie's army staff, during a trip to Brest following the marshal.
This manuscript, with erasures and corrections, was published, with cuttings, by the Countess of Guibert in 1806 under the title Brest in the Voyages de Guibert, dans diverses parties de la France et en Suisse (Paris, D'Hautel, 1806, pp. 35-86). In this travel diary, made on the occasion of an inspection tour of Marshal de BROGLIE, of whom Guibert was a member of the staff, Guibert mixes observations, reflections and personal opinions, and remarks on sailors such as GUICHEN, KERSAINT, LA MOTTE-PIQUET, ORVILLIERS. The journal begins on August 8: "Left Morlaix and arrived in Brest. The roads are quite beautiful but poorly maintained. [] The sight of the sea always acts on me: it enlarges my thought, it saddens it, finally it fills it, but it is never of a sweet feeling. Its result is always to fall in the vague, in the dark, in the infinite: it is like the sight of the sky, and the thought of the eternity " Description of the roadstead of Brest, compared to that of Toulon... Reception of the Marshal Description of the port of Brest: "magnificence and greatness of Louis XIV imprinted at each step"... Considerations on the interest of multiplying the building sites The visit of the Duke of CHARTRES provokes contemptuous criticisms: "passing inclinations to learn, but no follow-through, no dress, [] playing billiards, seeing girls [] On the other hand quite good tone on his board, not appearing to be bored, living well with the officers, caressing them, talking to the sailors [], all in all doing less harm and less good than a prince of the blood can do" Poor dress of most of the regiments of the garrison: indiscipline, insubordination Visit of the workshops and buildings of the port, where Guibert notes abuses While visiting the prison, he is indignant about the living conditions of the 2,500 galley slaves, condemned to forced labor in this port: "inhumanly treated and yet cost the king a lot of money []. Abuses without number also in this part, but the first of all [] and which makes tears flow is to pile up, to couple to the same chain of the unhappy ones without distinction of fault and crime. Thus the smuggler, the imprudent religionist, and the scelerat are sometimes on the same bed. Misfortune and innocence are sometimes next to crime. The innocent man must die of despair, and the half-corrupted one must finish corrupting himself. The sick are classified in the well-governed hospitals, and these unfortunate victims are mixed up here. But an even more terrible sight is that of the children arrested with their fathers and condemned with them. Children! The pen falls out of my hands when I think how ferocious and absurd our laws are, and how much more ferocious and absurd the men who govern are. de KERSAINT, conversation turning on the battle of Ouessant and the Franco-British fight of June 17 in the English Channel, told with impressive simplicity by La Clocheterie; considerations on the inequality between the French and English navies and analysis of the battle of Ouessant; the councils of war which are mentioned "have set everything on fire". Party given to the Marshal by M. d'Orvilliers, on Brittany Admiration of the modern ships; projects of new fortifications in Brest He ends with a lyrical homage to his wife: " lovable and gentle creature, the sky formed you according to the wish of my heart ".
Another autograph MANUSCRIT is attached, Letter on the education of a young soldier; notebook of 19 pages small in-4 bound with a green ribbon (a corner of the cover sheet torn). Advice to a young military man, in the form of a letter to a count recently appointed colonel, who will soon command a regiment. He begins about training: "It is not, my friend, an immense erudition that I am going to propose you to acquire. [] but it is necessary to have at least that portion of knowledge necessary to any man who wants to command men. Mathematics first of all, because "without geometry, ideas are vague and uncertain, the mind can neither judge nor compare, nor calculate; geometry is in a way the compass of reasoning and military logic" Etc. With an old copy.
Provenance : Archives of the count of GUIBERT (sale 14 October 1993, nos 60 and 63).
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