40 - [HISTORY - TOURNAISIS & HAINAUT] - HOVERLANT DE BEAUWELAERE, Adrien-Alexandre-Marie / GACHARD, Louis-Prosper

[HISTORY - TOURNAISIS & HAINAUT] - HOVERLANT DE BEAUWELAERE, Adrien-Alexandre-Marie / GACHARD, Louis-Prosper A set of 3 collections of fundamental documents bound into 2 volumes: - HOVERLANT DE BEAUWELAERE, Adrien-Alexandre-Marie, "A Brief Account of the Constitutions of the Province of Tournai, from Julius Caesar to the Present Day; with Observations on the Belgian Constitutions," Tournai, Casterman, 1814 Large 8vo. Midnight blue half-maroquin. Spine with four raised bands decorated with gilded panels featuring arabesque designs. Scuffing; tears at the joints; damaged caps. Handwritten verification of the copy number (“sixty-four”) and the author’s name in ink, in the author’s own hand. First edition and sole printing of this highly sought-after institutional study, published at the pivotal moment of the fall of the Napoleonic Empire. In it, the author eruditely traces the evolution of local charters and argues for the preservation of traditional privileges in the face of state centralism. References: National Bibliography of Belgium, II, 314; Catalog of the Library of the Late Mr. Hoverlant, p. 139. - GACHARD, Louis-Prosper, “Excerpts from the Registers of the Consaux of Tournay (1472–1490, 1559–1572, 1580–1581), followed by a list of the provosts and mayors of that city from 1667 to 1794” [Combined with:] "Catalog of the Archives of His Grace the Duke of Caraman, Preceded by Historical Research on the Princes of Chimay and the Counts of Beaumont," Brussels, A. Vandale, 1845–1846. Two works bound in one volume 8vo. Contemporary glazed half-calf Lavallière binding. Spine with 4 raised bands decorated with gilt motifs. Title labels in black glazed calfskin. Normal wear and tear. Scattered foxing. First editions of these two major archival studies by the Kingdom’s Chief Archivist. The first provides an indispensable raw transcript of municipal deliberations during military crises (the Burgundian Wars, the Spanish sieges), while the second constitutes a first-rate genealogical and feudal study of the Houses of Croÿ, Chimay, and Beaumont. References: National Bibliography of Belgium, II, 38; Bulletins of the Royal Commission of History, XI, p. 109. A remarkable thematic and regional compilation combining Hoverlant’s constitutional analysis with Gachard’s archival research, offering an indispensable compendium on urban liberties, the magistracy of Tournai, and the nobility of Hainaut. Provenance: from the library of Philippe Kervyn of Volkaersbeke (bookplate)