Original edition very rare. A well-complete copy with the large fold-out map enhanced with colors, which is almost always missing, with a length of nearly 80 cm.
Important memories of the uprising in Saint-Domingue
vu by the chief of’staff of the Leclerc expedition.
Paris, 1819.
The copy of the Conventionnel Boissy d’Anglas.
Lacroix, Pamphile de. MMemoirs to Serve as a History of the Revolution of Saint-Domingue. By Lieutenant-General Baron Pamphile de Lacroix. With a new map of the island and a topographic plan of Crète-à-Pierrot.
Paris, chez Pillet, 1819.
2 volumes in-8 of: I/ xv pp., including the half-title and the title, 416 pp.; II/ half-title, title, 350 pp., 1 errata leaf, 1 table, 1 plan and 1 fold-out map. Half calf of the period, long spines adorned with gilt fillets, title and volume markings of red morocco, “Boissy d’Anglas” stamped in gold letters at the tail, yellow edges. Contemporary binding.
201 x 120 mm.
Very rare original edition.
Well-complete copy with the large color-enhanced fold-out map, usually missing, with a length of nearly 80 cm.
Important memories of the Saint-Domingue uprising seen by the chief of staff of the Leclerc expedition.
Precious work that gives the true causes of why Saint-Domingue was lost to France.
Essential document on the military behavior of the insurgent blacks.
The “Memoirs” to serve as the history of the Revolution of Saint-Domingue” published in 1819 by General Pamphile de Lacroix are a primary source for understanding the events that unfolded on this island. It is not just a simple account of the military operations experienced by the author, as one might expect, but a general study of the Haitian revolution that traces all its aspects: political, social, and, but to a lesser extent, economic.
Appointed officer in 1792, Lacroix fought in the revolutionary campaigns in various armies. He was appointed general in Saint-Domingue and returned to France after spending thirteen months in the colony. A hotheaded and undisciplined character, which led to his dismissal in 1813, he rallied to Napoleon during the Hundred Days, then managed to regain favor with the new regime and was re-employed in 1820.
He compensated for the short duration of his stay in Haiti by drawing information from the best sources, notably in the correspondence of the Ministry of the Navy and the works of the inquiry commission chaired by Garran de Coulon. He also used numerous French and British testimonies.
His analysis is sharp; he notably perceives well the personality of Toussaint Louverture; like Kerverseau, he understands that he is not just a rebel but that he wants to overthrow the white order to replace it with an exclusive black society. In this, he shares the views of Colonel Vincent, who had assured Bonaparte that nothing could be achieved by force, that trust should be placed in Toussaint Louverture, and an arrangement should be found with him to coexist a black independence with a white protectorate. During the Restoration, he opposed the project of a new expedition by suggesting that the Haitian republic could pay a small indemnity as compensation for the ruin of the plantations and in recognition of its independence. This is what Charles X did in his ordinance of April 17, 1825.
Precious copy of the famous Conventionnel Boissy d’Anglas, his name engraved at the tail of the bindings.
