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War of the Austrian Succession (1740-8)

Includes much of the mapping collected by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, as Captain General of the British army

      ? PIERRE DU MORTOUS (ACTIVE 1750S)

      Siege of Furnes, 1744

      PLAN / des / ATTAQUES / de / FURNES / en 1744

      c.1759

      Etching and engraving; printed on paper; hand-coloured | Scale: 1:12,600 approx. | RCIN 729001.e

      A map of the siege of Furnes, 7-10 July 1744. War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). Oriented with east-north-east to top (compass indicator is to the left of the bird's beak, above the title).

      A large-scale plan of the siege of Furnes showing, coloured in yellow, the French approach works. It followed the successful sieges of Menen, 5 June (RCIN 729001.b), which was the first obstacle to an army coming from the south, Ypres, 15-24 June (RCINs 729001.c, 729018) and Knocke, which fell on 29 June. Furnes fell on 10 July (see also RCIN 729026). These last three fortresses had been designed by Vauban to form an impassable wall to invaders from the south. 'The vaunted fastnesses of Vauban were perishing like pricked bubbles, and the whole southern sector of maritime Flanders was in French hands.' (Browning 1995, p.173.)

      From: l'Histoire des Conquêtes de LOUIS XV. by Pierre Du Mortous: Paris, de Lormel, 1759. This plate is one of 24 siege plans, stitched together with the general index map (RCIN 729001.a) at the beginning.

      For further reading, see:
      R. Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession, New York, 1995.

      Condition: flat, no fold lines.

      • Pierre du Mortous (active 1750s) (author)

        Jean-Geoffrey Striedbeck (1707-72) (engraver) [bottom right, below edge of border:] Striedbeck sculps. Argent.

        ? P de Lormel (active 1759-93) (publisher)

      • Watermark: The letter H below the letter S, a ‘4’ above the S

        Condition: flat, no fold lines

      • Scale: 1:12,600 approx. Scale bar: [31 mm =] 200 Toises.

        21.8 x 30.2 cm (image)

        22.5 x 31.3 cm (platemark)

        20.7 x 29.7 cm (neatline)

        24.5 x 39.8 cm (sheet)

      • Printed title:

        PLAN / des / ATTAQUES / de / FURNES / en 1744 [bottom left, in rococo cartouche]

        Printed title:

        Pl. 4. [top right, above edge of border]

        George III catalogue entry:

        Netherlands Theatre de la derniere Guerre de Flandres, contenant une Carte generale et 24 Plans des Villes assiegées pendant les années 1744, 5, 6, 7 et 8. oblong 4.to

      • Subject(s)

        Veurne, Flanders, Belgium (51°04'20"N 02°39'44"E)

      • Bibliographic reference(s)

        R. Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession, New York, 1995

      Page revisions

      • 14 March 2024