58 - [GENEALOGY]. DES COUSTURES (Simon). THE NOBILITARY OF THE GENERALITY OF LIMOGES, containing the Names and Genealogies of the Gentlemen of the Elections of Limoges, Angoulême, the Magistracy of Ang., Saint-Jean-d’Angély, the Magistracy of Saint-Jean-d’Angély, Brive, Tulle, Bourganeuf, Saintes, and Coignac. No place, 1770. Ivory-colored stiff vellum folio, unmarked ribbed spine (contemporary binding); [303 folios, first numbered then paginated:](1) title folio, 42 folios, 65–70 folios, 59–64 folios, 51–58 folios, 43–50 folios, 127–134 ff., 77–86 ff., 71–76 ff., 88–[no f. 101]–108 ff., 121–126 ff., 115–120 ff., 109–114 ff., (1) title folio “Le Nobiliaire de l’élection d’Angoulême,” 135–[no f. 262, 265, 269, 277, 279—the verso pages having been paginated]-286 ff.; starting on f. 286, the folios are paginated up to page 332 [pp. 320–323, which have been torn out, are MISSING], (1) blank folio with a pinned document. The coat of arms on the first folio (“Autier”) was cut out and the missing portion restored; the coat of arms on folio 4 (“Bazin”) was cut out; a tear with no missing portion was restored on folio 210. MANUSCRIPT GENEALOGICAL AND HERALDIC COLLECTION OF THE NOBILITY OF THE LIMOGES REGION, presented in neat handwriting, with family names calligraphically rendered in larger characters and accompanied by coats of arms drawn in pen, featuring conventional hatching to indicate the colors. BEAUTIFUL HANDWRITTEN TITLE PAGE within a frame adorned with foliage, calligraphic ornaments, and animals. This collection was compiled by Simon des COUSTURES (1609–1707), Lord of Bort, counselor and attorney to the king at the presidial court of Limoges, on the occasion of the verification of titles of nobility conducted in 1666 under the authority of d’Aguesseau, and later completed in 1720 by his grandson, Jean-Pierre Roger des Essarts. This copy bears the notation “COPY MADE IN 1770” by order of “Monseigneur Turgot, Intendant of the Limoges Generality,” along with an alphabetical index of the gentlemen, their coats of arms, and notes on the register of nobility. A printed sheet, pinned to the last blank page, bears a certificate of registration in the name of the Judge of Arms of France, along with a lovely copper-engraved watermark signed “J. Huyot” and a facsimile of the signature “d’Hozier.” ¶ DES COUSTURES (Simon). “Nobiliaire de la généralité de Limoges,” published by Abbé André Lecler. Limoges, Vve H. Ducourtieux, 1901, 503 pp. – Haute-Vienne Departmental Archives. Heraldic Index. Catalog of coats of arms appearing in Poncet’s armorial, Simon Descoutures’s nobiliaire, the Lecler collection, and Nadaud’s nobiliaire; new typescript, 2014; introduction by Anne Gérardot, 2015.