[CRIMEAN WAR] Manuscript compiled by a French cotton merchant and soldier, 1852-54.

Unbound manuscript in ink on laid paper, large octavo (200 x 150 mm), original stitching, first page with owner’s inscription ‘Cahier de coton de 1852 et 1853. Monsieur Proutière Réné, soldat au 35eme de ligne 1er Bataillon 4ème Compagnie, à Inkermann (Crimée) armée D’orient Inkermann’; [9] pages of accounts relating to the purchase and sale of cotton, dated from 1852-54; [5] blank pages; [14] pages of music notation and lyrics; outer pages with some staining, but overall the manuscript is well-preserved and legible.

An interesting document, evidently compiled by a Frenchman working in the cotton trade in the early 1850s, who also served in the French Armée d’Orient during the Crimean War (1853-56), where he was present at the Battle of Inkerman. Inkerman was the site of an assault on the allies by the Russian Imperial Army on 5 November 1854, in which the allies held their ground despite being outnumbered. The Battle of Inkerman was the last outbreak of conflict prior to the Siege of Sevastopol, the culminating episode of the war.

Monsieur Proutière’s selection of music comprises both popular French songs and litanies. The music notation suggests that the soldier probably had with him a flute or fife during the campaign. The music includes popular French songs such as ‘Quand tu reviendras ou Le baiser de la promise’ (words by Gustave Lemoine; music by Loisa Puget), ‘La Dame aux Camélias, Les Adieux de Marguerite’ (words and music by Ferdinand Michel), ‘Pays [N]atal’ (words by Eugène Lonlay; music by Alfred Lair de Beauvais) and a Catholic litany ‘Cantique en l’honneur de Notre-Dame de la Salette’, which is the final song in the manuscript.