"A birdseye view of Texas by an enlightened Frenchman" (Raines)
With Rare Texas Republic Map
One of the earliest French works on the Republic of Texas, with an excellent French map of the Republic by Charles Picquet.
Jenkins suggested that Henri Castro, the French-born empresario who founded the Texas town of Castroville in the 1840s, may have contributed to this book or possibly written the whole text. The basis for this attribution was likely a statement by Castro's son, Lorenzo, who in his own book, Brief Sketch of Henry Castro's Colony in Western Texas (New York, 1871) states that his father was the author of Coup d'Oeil ... sur le Texas (Paris, 1841). Henri Castro recruited primarily Alsatian immigrants for his colony along the Medina River, who brought their distinct culture, language, and agricultural traditions to the region. Despite hardships such as Native American raids and supply shortages, the colony thrived, contributing to the settlement and economic development of southwestern Texas. Many descendants of the original settlers maintain Alsatian traditions today.
Whether written by Fournel himself or Castro, Streeter's summary is helpful:
An excellent, brief account written by a French mining engineer... Fournel expresses his debt to various talks he had had with General James Hamilton, who was then in Paris negotiating with bankers for a loan to Texas... There is a brief summary of events in Texas from a visit of Moses Austin in 1821 through the battle of San Jacinto... From page 22 to the end is an account of the physical features of Texas with brief comments on its commerce and products of its soil...
The rare map of the Republic of Texas is by Charles Picquet and is based on Brué's map of Mexico (probably the 1834 edition), which has been reviewed and substantially corrected by Frédéric Le Clerc. The map notes 27 Divisions of Texas, including the Commanche region in the Northwest. Texas is in its smaller configuration (and curiously shaped at that), not yet extending to the Rio Grande. The map is exceptionally detailed for the time period. This map also appeared in Leclerc's Le Texas et Sa Révolution (1840). LeClerc arrived in Texas in early 1838.
An important early Texas work with a nice example of one of the rarest French maps of the Texas Republic.
Rarity
The book and map are very rare on the market.
Since the Streeter Copy (auctioned in 1966) there has been only one other complete example of the book with map noted as sold in RBH.
Andre Hubert Brué was a French geographer and cartographer. Born in Paris, he served in the French Navy, joining the Baudin expedition to the Pacific (1800-1804). After his sea service, Brué applied his navigation and charting skills to creating finely-crafted maps, which were renowned for their crisp engraving and accuracy. He drew directly on the copper of the plate, creating what he called encyprotypes. He is best known for the Atlas universal de géographie physique, politique, ancienne et moderne.
Henri Jérôme Marie Fournel (1799–1876) was a French mining engineer and Saint-Simonian activist known for his pioneering mineral exploration in Algeria, where he founded the Algerian Mining Service and published Richesse minérale de l'Algérie (1843–46). Initially trained at the École Polytechnique and École des Mines, he contributed to early railway studies in France and joined the Saint-Simonian movement, traveling to Egypt to work on a proposed Suez Canal project. In 1841, he published Coup d'Oeil Historique et Statistique sur le Texas, reflecting contemporary French interest in Texas. Throughout his career, he conducted mining surveys in France, Algeria, and the Sahara, producing numerous reports and studies, though he was ultimately unsuccessful in his bid for the French Academy of Sciences.