Ecole spéciale militaire de St-Cyr
Portfolio of sketches and manuscript exercises by officer cadet Camille de Caix, Baron de Chaulieu, 1876-1877
£76
Auction: 05 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
15 diagrams of fortifications and geometric and topographical exercises, pen and ink, pencil and watercolour, mainly approx. 50 x 32cm, several smaller, one ('Attaque des places') larger (47 x 63cm) and folding, together with manuscript title-leaf ‘Album des travaux graphiques de topographie exécuté par l’elève de Caix Camille né le 5 mai 1857 à Caen (Calvados)', most with Ecole spéciale militaire oval blind stamp annotated with de Caix's name and date and several signed presumably by a supervising officer;
3 large hypsometric colour maps of the eastern frontier of France, pen and ink and watercolour, 54.5 x 43cm;
‘Cours de Fortification, Cahier de Croquis’, folio exercise book, 36 x 23cm, 8 ff., stitched in wrappers, manuscript title to front cover, containing annotated diagrams in ink and pencil,
9 leaves of pencil sketches of landmarks (trees, hills, cottages, a ruin, etc.), various dimensions;
4 engraved exercise sheets from the ‘Cours de topographie’ with details added in manuscript;
large charcoal sketch of a nude man unsheathing a sword, signed ‘De Caix’, 56 x 29.5cm, with a large pencil sketch of a Greek soldier and lover (mounted);
3 albumen-print photographic group portraits of schoolboys (quantity)
Footnote
An interesting collection of material providing an insight into the rebuilding of the French military establishment after the disaster of the Franco-Prussian War.