ARRAS. "MANUSCRIT concerning the town & city... Lot 2

ARRAS. "MANUSCRIT concerning the town & city of Arras, and the counties of Flanders and Artois. Concerning various very curious particularities touching the said countries." [18th century]. Strong vol. in-4, 403 ff, marbled fawn basane, spine ribbed, cloisonné and fleuronné with garnet colored title, filleted edges, red edges, lower cover and corners worn (period binding). CHRONICLE COVERING THE PERIOD FROM THE 3rd TO THE 16th CENTURY, composed from data provided by two Artesian historians, parish priests in Arras, named here on page 2 and on the intermediate titles: Ferry de Locre (1569-1614), author of a Chronicon Belgicum published posthumously in 1616, and Guillaume Gazet (1554-1612), whose abundant production of local history is spread over some fifteen titles. The compiler's method is characteristic of an era when the local history treatise was conceived in the traditional mold of the chronicle, as a nomenclature of "remarkable" events, for each year going back as far as possible. In fact, the first two parts are structured strictly chronologically, after a brief introduction each time, and go respectively from 282 to 1491, then from 1492 to 1600, while a third part offers a supplement of events coming in between those of the two previous parts. The titles of the three parts mention that the copied original was in the library of the Literary Society of Arras. This society, founded in 1737, would bear the titles of Académie royale des Belles-Lettres d'Arras from 1773, and Académie d'Arras from 1816.