A. Balleydier - Histoire de la Guerre de Hongrie - 1853

HISTORY OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR OF 1848-1849
Alphonse Balleydier

Brussels, At the Publisher’s, H. Dumont, Manager, 1853

In-8° (mm 210 × 140), full red contemporary leather binding with rich gold tooling on the spine, outlines and dry gold floral decorations on the boards, typographic frontispiece applied to the front board.
Pp. XVI, 384.

A complete copy. Interior with many widespread stains and browning typical of papers of the period; binding in good condition, with slight signs of use at the edges and corners.

Content
A historical work of great interest dedicated to the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849, one of the most dramatic and significant episodes of the so‑called “Springtime of Peoples.”

The author, Alphonse Balleydier (1810-1859), French journalist and historian, had already published Histoire des Révolutions de l’Empire d’Autriche. With this volume he completes the account of the convulsions that shook Central Europe, focusing on Hungary’s fight for independence against the Austrian Empire, led by Lajos Kossuth and generals Görgey, Bem and Klapka.

The text, written close to the events (only four years after the surrender at Világos and the Russian intervention), offers a detailed and well-documented narrative of military operations, political decisions, characters, and the atmospheres of the era. It contains the dedication “Aux Armées,” the avant-propos, chapters on the decisive phases of the war, and the table of contents.

It is a contemporary source of remarkable historiographical value, rarely available on the market in an era binding and complete.
The Brussels 1853 edition is among the first prints of the work and documents in real time one of the most important national independence attempts of the 19th century, which would have profound repercussions on Central European history up to the Austrian–Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

The full leather binding with frontispiece applied to the front board and the gilded decoration confer on the copy a collectible character, typical of fine French and Belgian editions from the mid‑19th century.
Ideal for collectors of military history, European revolutions of 1848, and romantic bindings.