"Phijsicae partis data a R.R. patre descornaix valencenas artium doctore ac ph[iloso]phiae professore. Scripta vero et recepta a jacobo Wespin dionantino, duaci data 1753".

Manuscrit on paper, in letin, folio, ca. 23 x 17,5 cm: 449-[2-1 bl.] pp. (paper toned, some minor worming at beginning).

Contemp. sheep, gilt spine, red edges, marbled endpapers (sl. worn & def.). In good condition.

Course of "physics" ("de mundo, anima, coelo"), given at Douai University by the (former) Jesuit Albert Descornaix (1702-?), a native of Valenciennes. The manuscript was written by Jacques Wespin from Dinant, a student of the Collège d’Anchin. His name is included in the printed booklet "Sodales Mariani apud PP. Societatis Jesu in Collegio Aquicinctino" (Douai, J.F. Willerval, 1753. 7 pp.), bound with at front. Title written within engraved border. Illustrated with 17 anatomical, mathematical, or astronomical engravings publ. by Dubois (Douai). Especially intriguing is the "Tabula 24. Typus orbis terrarum." This rare 18th-c. world map (13,5 x 18,5 cm) by the unknown M. Traiteur (not in BnF, not in Tooley) was sold in Douai by the print- and bookseller Philippe Dubois (rue St. Jacques à l’arbre porphyre). The general lay-out is inspired by the earlier 17th-c. example of Judocus Hondius’ miniature map of the world in 2 hemispheres, but for the geographical content the mapmaker more likely used an identically named Parisian example (possibly: BnF Tolbiac Ge F 1284). The Douai map, as well as the Parisian example (?), render the earth similar to Abraham Bosse’s and Melchior Tavernier’s "map within the frame of an embellished shield" (Shirley 332). Both the positioning of Florida and the shape of the coastline of the southern continent are quite identical.
Ref. Van der Krogt IIIB(0001:342B) and (0001:351). - Shirley 332. - No equivalent in Oldmaps.com. - BnF Tolbiac Ge F 1284. - Barbier, F. - Lumière du Nord (Paris, Droz, 2002), p. 280, nr. 96.
Prov. Old name on front flyleaf.