novel Mauprat and Le Chevalier des Touches. Le Blant did more than sixty drawings for the notebooks of Captain Coignet, which is considered a classic account of the Napoleonic Wars. When editors required illustrations of the Vendee campaigns, Le Blant was commissioned to do the illustrations. His works were used as the basis for a series of engravings in Honoré de Balzac's book, Les Chouans which was translated and published in English in 1889. He did 161 illustrations for Alexandre Dumas Le Chevalier de Maison Rouge, a profusely illustrated limited edition book For illustrations, he would do original compositions for the book and then an engraver would reproduce his works for publication. His illustrations could be pen & ink, a medium he was particularly adept at, in watercolor or in oil. Then, once the book project was complete, it was Le Blant's practice to sell off the illustrations at the Hotel Drouot auction house. His illustrations for Les Chouans were sold this was in 1891, "Enfant Perdu de Toudouze" in 1894 and "Cahiers Du Capitaine Coignet" in 1896. He was considered a consummate draftsman and he worked extensively in pen & ink and watercolor for the books he illustrated. His last illustration project came in 1924; it was an American book of poetry, In the Hills, written by the wealthy Baltimore art patron and Peace Activist Theodore Marburg (1862–1946). Le Bataillon carré, Le Blant's gold medal painting Le Blant's most famous work is said to be "Le Bataillon carré" a large work that won medals in the Paris Salon of 1880, where it won a Silver Medal and the Paris World's Fair of 1889, where it was awarded a Gold Medal. It was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia in New South Wales and then deaccessioned, when Academic and Salon pictures were unpopular. This painting depicts a group of counter revolutionaries, who were referred to as "les blancs" ("the whites") ambushing the troops of the French Revolution. armed with scythes and pitchforks. This skirmish took place near the medieval stronghold of Fougères that was part of the old Duchy of Brittany. In the center of the composition, the troops of the Revolutionary Army have formed themselves into a defensive square and at the bottom, another group of peasants is rushing to attack. William Walton described the work in his book on the paintings of the Exposition Universelle: “One of