Bornas, Aug[ust?]. Album of Ten Original Pen and Wash Sketches of Military Fortifications, Villages and Mountainous Views of Tonkin (North Vietnam) Taken by a Participant of the French Military Campaign on Pacification of Tonkin (1886-1896). Ca. 1891.

With ten sketches in pen and wash on beige paper each ca. 13x21 cm (5 ¼ x 8 ¼ in) and mounted on album leaves. All but one captioned in ink in the lower margins of the sketches, five signed “Aug. Bournas” in the lower corners (three additionally dated February or December 1891), one signed “Diesenhosen”(?) in the right lower corner Period style maroon gilt tooled half morocco with maroon cloth boards, Several drawings with very minor corner creases, but overall a very good album of sketches. Period style maroon gilt tooled half morocco with maroon cloth boards, Several drawings with very minor corner creases, but overall a very good album of sketches.

Interesting album of original drawings made by a participant of the French Pacification of Tonkin (1886-1896) - one Aug[ust?] Bornas who served in the column of Commandant Fournier (XI Legion) during the 1891 campaign. Tonkin (in the north-east of modern Vietnam) became a part of French Indochina in 1887, but it took French authorities almost ten years to completely subdue the region, especially its northern mountainous areas. These skillful sketches document the steady and painful advance of French troops into the hilly interior of rebellious Tonkin, showing small villages and French posts, barricades destroyed during the advance, mountains and valleys, streams et al. The drawings include: 1. A view of the bridge across the Tra Linh River dated February 1891 and signed “Aug. Bournas”. 2. A view of the barricade (made of bamboo) at Lung Giao, destroyed by the column of Commandant Fournier on 27 March 1891. 3. A view of the barricade (made of bricks and bamboo) at Lung Kett, which closes the entrance to Thien Sang (view taken from inside), the barricade was destroyed by the column of Commandant Fournier on 3 April 1891. 4. A view of the Lung-Phai village with three watch towers, dated December 1891 and signed “Aug. Bournas”. 5. A view of Dong Khe fort, facing west, with French tricolor waving above. Dated December 1891 and signed “Aug. Bournas”. 6. A view of the French post in the town of Ngan Son (Bắc Kạn Province, Northeastern Vietnam), with French tricolor waving above. 7. A view of the market in Tan Bon (on the route from Nam-Nang to Dong Khe, Northeastern Vietnam). 8. Camp in Nai Phung and the Pac Giai valley. 9. A view of the Lung Che circue taken from above, signed “Diesenhosen” (?). 10. Untitled drawing portraying French officers taking rest on a river bank (two are talking, one is cooking on a camp stove), with two Vietnamese boats landed on shore nearby. “The Pacification of Tonkin (1886-96) was a slow and ultimately successful military and political campaign undertaken by the French Empire in the northern portion of Tonkin (modern-day north Vietnam) to re-establish order in the wake of the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885), to entrench a French protectorate in Tonkin, and to suppress Vietnamese opposition to French rule” (Wikipedia).