1700, Fossa, Observations historiques et critiques sur le droit public de Catalogne et de Roussillon.

where the true principles & prerogatives of the Nobility are fixed; to serve as a complete refutation of the writings of M. l'Abbé Xaupi on the alleged chivalry of the honoured burghers of Perpignan & Barcelona. Rare first edition.

In stock
Isbn
LA515
€600.00

 


Condition : good, slightly rubbed with a few small spots, slightly browned, about 150 pages heavily browned, some foxing, a few minor tears and marginal defects, p. 9 - 13 faint traces of moisture, from p. 567 onwards minor traces of wormholes in the lower margin. Overall a good copy.
Binding : full parchment, handwritten title.
Volume : 1 volume.
Format : In-4.
Pages : 2 ff, XXXVI, IV, 591(recte 595) pp.
Publisher : Perpignon, L'Imprimerie de Claude Le Comte.
Date : 1700.


Only edition of this rare work.

François de Fossa was born in Perpignan on 21 July 1726. His father, who was registered as a lawyer at the bar of the Sovereign Council of Roussillon, had inspired in him, along with a taste for legal studies, a love of his honourable profession. With such a master, the young Fossa's progress in the science of jurisprudence was so rapid that at the age of barely eighteen, he was competing for a chair of civil law in the University of his native town. He would even have been awarded it, had he been old enough. Two years later, in 1746, the superior talent he displayed in another competition for the chair of canon law earned him the special favour of a dispensation from the age requirement to hold it. François Fossa soon became the oracle of the Perpignan bar: it is even reported that d'Aguesseau counted him among the most eminent jurisconsults of the kingdom. In 1759, he was dean of the Faculty of Law and rector of the University where he gave his learned lessons. His manuscript lectures bear witness to a thorough knowledge of ecclesiastical law; the presentation is sober and luminous; the expression clear, even elegant; the background impregnated with Gallican ideas, suitable for pleasing the minds of the time. But there was in Fossa a double personality: the professor was a true scholar in local history. His knowledge was very extensive and his judgement most reliable. These rare qualities determined the learned authors of the Art of Verifying Dates to solicit his cooperation in this great work. Fossa proved himself worthy of such a choice by the memoirs he provided on the chronology of the counts of Roussillon, Cerdanya, Besalu and Empories. A long and resounding trial, begun in 1738, between the nobles and the honoured burghers of Perpignan, engaged Fossa, defender of the former, in interminable research which was very valuable for the history of the country. He recorded the results in the Observations historiques et critiques sur le droit public de Catalogne et de Roussillon. This work, published in Perpignan in 1770, was a reply to the Recherches historiques sur la noblesse des citoyens honorés de Perpignan et de Barcelone published by Abbé Xaupi seven years earlier. Far from accepting his opponent's reasons, Xaupi reworked his book and published a second edition in three volumes in 1776. Fossa did not wait for a reply. It appeared the following year under the title Mémoire pour l'ordre des avocats de Perpignan. This last work, according to Mr. Brutails, "denotes masterly qualities, working power, subtlety, business practice... But alongside these advantages, we find serious imperfections: Fossa is a scholar rather than a scientist, a litigator much more than a historian; he lacks a historical sense of law; he seeks above all to prove his thesis, even by modifying the scope of the documents somewhat. Another memoir by Fossa entitled Réponse pour le marquis d'Oms au mémoire du sieur Berteau (sur les eaux de sa seigneurie de Suréda) appeared in 1777, in Perpignan. But the writings that he brought to light constitute only the minor part of those that came from his pen. The dean of the faculty of law had drawn the outline and written the diplomatic collection of a History of Roussillon which remained unpublished. He had also written a voluminous treatise on the Franc-alleu of Roussillon and Catalonia. Fossa did not put the finishing touches to this important work until after twenty years devoted to researching and reading a thousand charters, most of whose originals no longer exist today. He had sent a superb collection of these to the King's Charters depository in Paris. Fossa was a member of the Barcelona Academy of Fine Arts. Louis XVI had ennobled him, and he still received the cord of Saint-Michel from this monarch. A man of letters and a consummate jurisconsult, Fossa was also an admirable philanthropist. His name appears on the list of administrators of the Saint John hospital for a long period of twenty-six years (1758-1784). Fossa died in Perpignan on 6 August 1789, in the early days of the Revolution (Dictionnaire de biographies roussillonnaises by Abbé Capeille).

More Information
Condition Used - Good
Language France
Illustrated No
Year 1700
Author / Cartographer / Photographer Fossa François de
Editor Lecomte Claude
First edition Yes
Signed edition No
Signed binding No
Armorial binding No
Binding / Format Full leather
Size 23 x 17 cm
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