CHEVAUX. Lot n° 94

Reason book of a horse dealer farmer. [Ornaisons (Aude), 1806-1848]. In-folio of 334 pp. on tinted laid paper, unpaginated, of which 326 are handwritten, vellum with gussets, bearing on the boards several inscriptions of the time in ink, partly erased, including the title "Livre de contes pour les choses [...]" and several signatures of the name "Fabre" decorated (Binding of the time). Interesting document on the rural life of the Ornaisons region at the beginning of the 19th century, and more widely of the Aude. The bound volume bears the title "Book of purchases and sales for the entrèze of the Republic. Fabre d'Ornezons", but on this side follow only 16 pages written in part head to tail. This part is reserved for auxiliary matters (wages of the servants, draft of letter, etc.), the essential of the accounts being written in the other direction. As time goes by, the sales of ewes become rarer, to the profit of the purchases and sales of mules (of which mules of Poitou), horses and mares, by the assiduous frequentation of the fairs of Albi, Lautrec, Monestiers, Cordes, Montreal, etc (all the important localities of the Aude, the Tarn and beyond). The commercial accounts record the names of people and places of residence: we find those of all the merchants or horse breeders in the region. The domestic accounts sometimes give the nickname preceded by "dit". It is in this category (for the most part in the separate book) that we find the most features of local life: relations with other professions (shepherds, carters, harvesters, servants, grape-pickers, masons), ancillary agricultural work carried out (livestock, sowing, repair work, wood deliveries, etc.), names of places and villages, situations of plots. In this part, transactions and events are sometimes mixed up: "account of the flock that I have in the hands of the Shepherd namely 99 sheep or ewes and two lambs yl ma na death one the day after the fleece remains at 98 and 2 lambs which makes 100", "account of the days of carts or other things that I would do which are not included in the farm ball which is spent at Monsieur (...) supplied 2 hinges and a wicket at the door under the stairs", "account for the harvesters of the days they will do (...) know those who have missed", "account of the expenses to be made on the farm goods taken from Mrs...", "to have bought from my father six objects in the fields or in the vineyards". The notebook has a title on each side: "Account of (duty? illegible words) 1833" and "September 29, 1832. Book containing the wages of the Domestics". This volume contains several handwritten loose-leaf pages, one of which is large and folded (various annexed accounts); plus a sewn folio booklet, without cover, of 36 pages almost entirely handwritten.