Histoire de la Première armée française - Rhin et Danube

First edition, one of 265 numbered copies on pure fil de lana, deluxe copy.
Iconography, complete copy with its two folding maps placed at end of volume.
Half long-grained green shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, abstract patterned paper boards, olive green paper endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.
Autograph inscription signed by Jean de Lattre de Tassigny: "Au colonel Merlat, organisateur et valeureux chef du 8ème régiment de Dragons, de la 1ère armée Fse. En très fidèle et amical témoignage. J. de Lattre. 31 Janvier 1950." (To Colonel Merlat, organizer and valorous chief of the 8th Regiment of Dragons, of the 1st French Army. In very faithful and friendly testimony. J. de Lattre. 31 January 1950.)
A volunteer at age 17 in 1914, Auguste Merlat was wounded three times and taken prisoner. When World War II broke out, he fought in all the battles within the staff of the 4th Light Cavalry Division on the Meuse and Belgian fronts until the fateful armistice of 22 June 1940. He distinguished himself in the Cantal mountains by resurrecting the 8^th regiment of dragons in the form of a clandestine military group, also gathering volunteers, after joining the Army Resistance Organization at the end of 1943. Returning from Tulle where he had harassed the SS division "das Reich", he joined the 2nd Dragons of the First French Army. Under General de Lattre's orders, Merlat participated in the liberating battles of the Côte d'Or, then in the campaigns of Alsace and Germany. De Lattre de Tassigny would not forget Auguste Merlat's military feats and his group in this Histoire de la première armée française and notably cites him in the episode of the battle of Autun:

« Car les volontaires des Forces Françaises de l'intérieur [...] tous également fiers d'avoir libéré leurs provinces sans appui direct des forces débarquées estiment n'en avoir pas assez fait et se sont lancés, dans un élan spontané vraiment admirable [...] à la poursuite des hitlériens qu'ils veulent reconduire qu'au Rhin. [...] Un bon nombre se servent de véhicules de réquisition ou de récupération. Tel est le cas du 8^e Dragons, groupe de reconnaissance motorisé de la colonne formée par les F.F.I. de Corrèze, qui arrive à Paray-le-Monial, le 7 septembre, en même temps que le 2^e Dragons. Le Chef d'escadron Merlat qui le commande se met aussitôt à disposition du lieutenant-colonel Demetz qui l'incorpore d'emblée à son groupement. » (For the volunteers of the French Forces of the Interior [...] all equally proud of having liberated their provinces without direct support from the landed forces believe they have not done enough and have launched themselves, in a truly admirable spontaneous surge [...] in pursuit of the Hitlerians whom they want to escort back to the Rhine. [...] A good number use requisitioned or recovered vehicles. Such is the case of the 8^th Dragons, motorized reconnaissance group of the column formed by the F.F.I. of Corrèze, which arrives at Paray-le-Monial on 7 September, at the same time as the 2^nd Dragons. Squadron Leader Merlat who commands it immediately places himself at the disposal of Lieutenant-Colonel Demetz who incorporates him straightaway into his group.)

Autograph tribute to the exceptional career of a resistance hero, who honorably raised the glorious standard of the 8^th regiment of dragons. The general would inscribe him within the immortal pages of this history of the French liberation.