Details
FER, Nicolas de (1646-1720). Introduction à la Fortification. [Les Forces d'Europe.] Paris: by the author, 1705.
Oblong 2° (243 x 370mm). Engraved title, 186 engraved plates including 170 town maps, plans, fortification schemes and views, (2, of Quebec and Batavia, not in list of plates), 9 plates on the theory of fortifications with 6 plates of engraved explanatory text, and engraved list of plates. (Lacking plates 45 and 165 (Toulon and Perpignan), plate 159 of Civita-Vecchia with short, clean tear, plate 185 of Tripoli slightly trimmed at upper and lower margins, occasional light spotting and browning.) Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt in six compartments with red morocco lettering-piece (corners bumped, lightly rubbed).
Nicolas de Fer's Forces de l'Europe first appeared in 8 parts between 1690 and 1695. The title Introduction à la Fortification, which appears on the engraved title, was the title originally chosen for the first part. In 1695, de Fer published the engraved list of 189 plates which appears at the back of the present copy. However, the maximum number of plates was only 188, as plate 97 was merely an error of numbering, and never existed. It also seems possible that de Fer mistakenly included the 'Table' or list of plates, twice in the count. Although two 'Tables' are mentioned, only the one list of plates ever seems to have been included with the work. (Pastoreau lists the preliminary leaves as 1-9 and 88-90 (his numbering system), but does not specify what Fer's second 'Table'is, or whether it ever existed.) The present copy is the 1705 re-issue of the work, with the dates on the plates corrected accordingly. It conforms to Pastoreau's Fer IX C, except that the plates of Toulon and Perpignan seem never to have been bound in this copy. It also contains two additional plates, of Batavia and Quebec, which are not required by the list of plates. The plate of Batavia is apparently one of those added to the work by Fer's son-in-law, Jacques-François Besnard, when he reissued it in 1723 (cf. Pastoreau Fer IX D, no. 193), but the plate of Quebec, although bearing Fer's name and the 1705 date, is unlisted by Pastoreau.
Oblong 2° (243 x 370mm). Engraved title, 186 engraved plates including 170 town maps, plans, fortification schemes and views, (2, of Quebec and Batavia, not in list of plates), 9 plates on the theory of fortifications with 6 plates of engraved explanatory text, and engraved list of plates. (Lacking plates 45 and 165 (Toulon and Perpignan), plate 159 of Civita-Vecchia with short, clean tear, plate 185 of Tripoli slightly trimmed at upper and lower margins, occasional light spotting and browning.) Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt in six compartments with red morocco lettering-piece (corners bumped, lightly rubbed).
Nicolas de Fer's Forces de l'Europe first appeared in 8 parts between 1690 and 1695. The title Introduction à la Fortification, which appears on the engraved title, was the title originally chosen for the first part. In 1695, de Fer published the engraved list of 189 plates which appears at the back of the present copy. However, the maximum number of plates was only 188, as plate 97 was merely an error of numbering, and never existed. It also seems possible that de Fer mistakenly included the 'Table' or list of plates, twice in the count. Although two 'Tables' are mentioned, only the one list of plates ever seems to have been included with the work. (Pastoreau lists the preliminary leaves as 1-9 and 88-90 (his numbering system), but does not specify what Fer's second 'Table'is, or whether it ever existed.) The present copy is the 1705 re-issue of the work, with the dates on the plates corrected accordingly. It conforms to Pastoreau's Fer IX C, except that the plates of Toulon and Perpignan seem never to have been bound in this copy. It also contains two additional plates, of Batavia and Quebec, which are not required by the list of plates. The plate of Batavia is apparently one of those added to the work by Fer's son-in-law, Jacques-François Besnard, when he reissued it in 1723 (cf. Pastoreau Fer IX D, no. 193), but the plate of Quebec, although bearing Fer's name and the 1705 date, is unlisted by Pastoreau.