CORSICA. - GOURY DE CHAMPGRAND (Jean-François).... Lot 8

CORSICA. - GOURY DE CHAMPGRAND (Jean-François)]. Histoire de l'isle de Corse, contenant en abrégé les principaux événemens de ce pays. Nancy: Abel-Denis Cusson, 1749. Small in-8, xvi-296 pp. in marbled brown basane, spine ribbed, cloisonné and decorated with flowers, garnet-red title, decorated edges, speckled edges, binding slightly rubbed with a tear at the upper head (period binding). ORIGINAL EDITION, published in Nancy. Although the choice of this place may in fact be the consequence of a personal or military coincidence in the author's life, it should be noted that Lorraine maintained close ties with Corsica, as Michel Vergé-Franceschi has shown in his history of Pasquale Paoli. King Theodore, for example, was a native of Metz. COMMISSAIRE ORDONNATEUR DES GUERRES À AJACCIO, GOURY DE CHAMPGRAND (1702-1745) hides here behind his initials ("G. D. C.", p. xiii) mentioned in the approbation. He spent time in Corsica in early 1739 as part of the expedition led by the future Marshal de Maillebois, and had the opportunity, through his duties, to gather directly, or through his military correspondence, all kinds of information about the island, especially since he spoke Italian himself. He explains that he wrote the present work in 1741 for the information and professional benefit of his compatriots, in the mistaken belief that Corsica would remain French after the intervention in which he had participated. The story continues from its origins to the island's attempt at independence, and King Theodore's adventure. Goury de Champgrand joins this with a picture of Corsica in its various aspects: population, customs, language, successive governments, clergy, natural history, geography, agriculture, etc., with forward-looking remarks on the possibilities of developing trade and mining. He also adds a chapter on the Greek colony of Corsica, founded by refugees fleeing the Turkish advance, first in the 1670s in Paomia, then, in the face of hostility there, deported to Ajaccio in the early 18th century - for this latter memoir, Goury de Grandchamp says he worked on memoirs communicated by one of the heads of the colony's main family, Michael Stephanopoulos (Michaeli Stefanopoli). Provenance: Chatelan (handwritten bookplate dated 1757). - Magistrate and historian Xavier Versini (double bookplate, his signature on p. 11 and his initials on p. 26).