[PICQUÉ (Jean-Pierre)] - Lot 485

[PICQUÉ (Jean-Pierre)] Voyage dans les Pyrénées Françoises, dirigé principalement vers la Bigorre & les Vallées; suivi de quelques vérités nouvelles et importantes sur les Eaux de Barèges & de Bagnères. Paris, Le Jay, 1789. In-8: VIII, 328pp. Contemporary brown shagreened calf, ornate smooth spine, red title-piece, headband slightly frayed, double gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt roulette rubbed on the edges, slight rubbing, corners dulled. First edition. Translated into German and published in Strasbourg in 1790 following the translation of RAMOND's "Observations" (announced as a "sequel" and therefore falsely attributed to RAMOND), the other French editions are from 1828 and 1829, the last in 1832. On page 15, PICQUÉ mentions the Bigourdan celebrities of the time, and cites his own name (without specifying which of his father or himself is meant) among the "famous doctors". Born in 1748, PICQUÉ established himself as a doctor in Lourdes, succeeding his father in 1770. His affair with the Duchesse de Valentinois, wife of the Crown Prince of Monaco, was the talk of the town. They travelled together in France and Switzerland "without hindrance or mystery". Read FOURCASSIÉ's interesting note, which concludes: "Alongside the 'Louis XVI' Pyrenees of his predecessors, and awaiting the 'Empire Style' and '1830' Pyrenees, he is the only one to represent the 'Convention Style'". André MONGLOND, published a monograph on PICQUÉ included in the book: "Vies préromantiques. Les deux dernières années de ROUSSEAU et les rêveries d'un promeneur solitaire. The inner life of a conventional disciple of Jean-Jacques. Sénancour's youth. Clés d'Adolphe", published in Paris, 1925. This conventionalist, who occupies pp.91 to 122, is PICQUÉ, and the unpublished manuscript in question is in Bagnères de Bigorre. PICQUÉ tells his own story over 500 pages. From this same manuscript, L.G. Pélissier published the part relating to the Convention in "Souvenirs et Mémoires", 1899. The same Pélissier wrote a biography of PICQUÉ for the 1899 "Annales du Midi", pp.288-334 (Labarère 1187)(Perret 3440). Provenance: Copy from the library of René Bosviel, with his signature stamp.