[Manuscript - TOUSTAIN DE BILLY (René). [Antiquités du Coten - Lot 534

[Manuscript - TOUSTAIN DE BILLY (René). [Antiquités du Cotentin]. sl[début XVIIIe s.]. In-4 of 863 pp. and [1] f. table. Antique handwritten copy in very neat and legible handwriting. Brown calf, spine ribbed and decorated, title page (contemporary binding). Spine cracked, some spotting. Born into a noble Norman family, René Toustain de Billy (1643-1709) was parish priest of Mesnil-Opac near Saint-Lô for almost 40 years, and the author of numerous historical works on the towns of the present-day département of La Manche. He is notably the author of a Histoire ecclésiastique du diocèse de Coutances, from 1250 to 1720, and a work entitled Mémoires sur l'Histoire du Cotentin. "In 1832, Messrs. J. Travers and L. Ragonde distributed a prospectus for the publication of a ms: MEMOIRES SUR L'HISTOIRE DU COTENTIN; 1728, in-f°. ms. (Biblioth. de Caen) - highlighting its importance for the history of this part of the Manche department, formerly known as Cotentin; but their efforts were unsuccessful, and the work has not yet seen the light of day. This edition was to appear under the title : HIST. DU COTENTIN, ou MEMOIRES sur le Diocèse de COUTANCES ; pub. avec des Notes & Add. importantes ; 3 vol. in-8 imp. par J. Elie à S. Lo, et tirés à 200 exempl. La copie qui devait servir pour l'impression contient 760 p. in-4°. There are several copies of Toustain de Billy's work in Normandy, of which the one in the Caen library is considered the best. We also cite the copy in the British Museum (Harley, no. 4.599), in-fo. 313 ff. written by six or seven different hands, between whom the original ms. seems to have been divided. The Bibliothèque impériale, fonds de Boze, n°1.027, mss.possesses a mémoire by Toustain de Billy, on the abbey of Blanchelande, bearing the date August 20, 1706, and that of Cherbourg, a Histoire des Evêques de Coutances ms." Frère I, 108. Later handwritten notes on title page: "This manuscript belongs to Sr. Lansot, former vicar of St. Pierre de Coutances, curate of the parish of Quesney before the Revolution and currently [?] of Guéhébert for the remission of his sins [...]"; "Mr. Toustaint de Billy, curate of Mesnil au Pac wrote this work in 1706. See page 631 where M. de Billy mentions himself as a witness to things that happened in 1685"; "Now belongs to Mme Christy rue du Rempart à St Lo". Ex-libris J.M.