BOOKS. Release of the third volume of the series “Proud to be Agenais”

After the success of the first two volumes of the “Proud to be Agenais” series, the end of 2024 is marked by the publication of the third part. The collection of works is gradually being completed, each new edition bringing its share of surprises with new documents telling the story of the city of Agen.

The fruit of long historical research

The principle of collection remains unchanged: readers of “Petit Bleu” who have personal archive images tell us about it. After their digitization, these images are the subject of an “investigation”. Who are these characters on the document? What do they say about the town of Agen, and at what time? Historical research is often long, sometimes fruitless, and each volume of the series “Proud to be Agenais” is a selection of images finally exploited. So many others remain “silent” to this day, we can bet that they will be published in a future volume…

Each document has its own story, and readers of this third opus will notice that some photo captions are longer. This is the case for these images taken on December 2, 1905, where the 9th Infantry Regiment gathered in its entirety in the courtyard of the Lacué barracks: a gathering deserving some explanations. Furthermore, what happened at Agen station on October 6, 1921? And this Saturday, August 5, 1911, when for the first time a plane flew over the city? So many events to develop.

A book for Christmas

Although certain texts have been exceptionally lengthened, this third volume nevertheless meets the same requirements as the two previous ones. Thus, presented in large format to better highlight their narrative power, the images are not classified in chronological or thematic order – which sets “Proud to be Agenais” apart from other works on Agen. This choice was thus assumed in the first book: “We tell a single story, via a walk through time and through the city. All the texts form a large illustrated story. The reader will also be able to “pick” pages at random, wander from one document to another, and discover the talent of amateur photographers whose photos go down for posterity here. »

The third volume of the “Proud to be Agenais” series will be available in bookstores and newsagents from next week. Holders of volume I (unfortunately out of print) and volume II will thus be able to complete their collection. Others will discover in the wealth of documents the opportunity to offer a nice Christmas gift.

Dedication Saturday December 7

In this new edition, two decades are highlighted. First of all, the 1930s, thanks to the work of the Agen photographer Antoine Balistai (1879-1955), a large documentary collection of whom is kept in the Departmental Archives of Lot-et-Garonne. The 1950s are also revealed in this book, a time when cameras were more accessible to individuals.
Finally, in this year 2024, it is impossible not to return to the beautiful history of Le Petit Bleu, which is celebrating its 110th anniversary: ​​several pages are devoted to the Agen newspaper founded in 1914.
A date to remember now: the signing session for this volume III, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday December 7 at the Martin-Delbert bookstore (boulevard de la République in Agen).
We will come back to this event in our next editions.