Bigorre - Lavedan - Lot 53

Bigorre - Lavedan BOURDETTE (Jean Julien) Annales des Sept Vallées du Labéda - Partie Montagneuse de l'Arrondissement d'Argelès (Hautes-Pyrénées). Argelès, Faure ; Toulouse, Privat ; Saint-Gaudens, Abadie, 1898-1899. 4 volumes in-8: 2f, LII, 528pp. / 2f, VIII, 598pp. / 2f, IV, 628pp. / 2f, XIII, 690pp. ½ green contemporary chagrin, spine lightened, untrimmed. A good copy. This is Bourdette's "grand-oeuvre", a reference work if ever there was one. This historian, originally from Argelès but now living in Toulouse, devoted himself body and soul to his little country. He began in 1890 with "Le Labéda (ou Lavedan) - Récits", a picturesque work mixing descriptions, stories and legends, and concluded with his "Notices Nobiliaires". As the author had strong ideas on spelling, he implemented a "petite réforme ortografique" used in most of his works (Labarère 225)(Batcave 260).