MILITARY MANUSCRIPT - SUCCESSION WAR of Spain. Relation du s - Lot 38

MILITARY MANUSCRIPT - SUCCESSION WAR of Spain. Relation du siège d'Ath. Done in 1697. In-folio half modern vellum (wetness and traces of mildew at end of vol.) 40 x 25 cm. Important 128-page manuscript on heavy wove paper, carefully calligraphed, recounting in great detail the capture of the town of Ath (Flanders) by Jean Catinat in 1697. It also includes the names of the General Staff officers, Vauban's 62 engineers, details of the troops involved, etc. It is illustrated with 2 large fold-out watercolor plans:1/Map of the attacks on the siege of the town of Ath en Haynaut in 1697 (62 x 39 cm) 2/Map of the Circonvalation of the Siege of Ath (72 x 40 cm) and two full-page watercolor drawings: 1/Profile of the trench (40 x 20 cm) 2/Profile for the circonvalation (40 x 25 cm). The siege of Ath (May 15, 1697 - June 5, 1697) was a major French victory that brought the "Nine Years' War" to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick on October 30, 1697. The siege was hailed by contemporaries as Vauban's masterpiece and the most effective siege ever carried out, due to its speed, low cost and the modernity of the eight-bastion fortress, which had been designed by Vauban himself 25 years earlier.