COLLECTIVE. Plans relating to the works of... - Lot 172 - Nouvelle Etude

COLLECTIVE. Plans relating to the works of the Inland Navigation of Brittany. 1789. Set of 29 handwritten folded documents in a vellum binding in-4, with a handwritten list. Watercoloured maps at the time. 330 x 245 mm. Interesting set of manuscripts consisting of watercoloured plans, profiles and drawings relating to inland navigation of the Vilaine River between 1787 and 1789. Two watercolour maps show the course of the Vilaine (perhaps by Philogène de Coniac), and many profiles and drawings relate to locks. "The canal projects in Brittany date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1627, the States of Brittany approved a project for the canalisation of the Aulne, between the roadstead of Brest and Carhaix but, due to a lack of funding, this work was never carried out. In 1746, François-Joseph de Kersauson wrote a Memorandum on the canalisation of the province for the States of Brittany, in which he planned junctions between different rivers, such as from the Rance to the Vilaine or from the Oust to the Blavet. In January 1783, a commission of inland navigation is formed to launch preliminary studies. The reports, studies and projects multiplied, sometimes with financed worksites, such as the navigability of the Vilaine near Redon, between 1784 and 1789.