Sir Francis Haddock – Figurines Tintin La Collection Officielle – 44 – Le Chevalier François De Hadoque

Author: Hergé & Editions Moulinsart
Price: £95.00
Publisher: Editions Moulinsart
Publication date: 2013
Format: Original pictorial boards with passport and figurine
Condition: In near fine condition
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout

Description:

Original pictorial boards. Includes passport loosely inserted. Text in French. Includes the accompanying figurine. One from the collection of 111 books and figurines. Very slight wear. In very near fine, clean condition overall.

Sir Francis Haddock: A Short Biography

Sir Francis Haddock — or Le Chevalier François de Hadoque — is a distinguished 17th-century sea captain and naval officer in Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin. Though he appears only briefly in The Secret of the Unicorn (1943) and Red Rackham’s Treasure (1944), his legacy profoundly shapes the character of his modern descendant, Captain Archibald Haddock.

Through Sir Francis, Hergé connects Tintin’s world of modern adventure with a romantic vision of maritime heroism, honour, and ancestral destiny.

Historical and Narrative Background

Sir Francis Haddock serves as a captain in the Royal Navy under King Louis XIV of France — a period marked by naval rivalry, piracy, and colonial expansion. His ship, the Unicorn (La Licorne in French), sails under the French flag during the late 17th century, when privateers and pirates competed for imperial supremacy on the high seas.

Hergé’s portrayal of Sir Francis is inspired by the seafaring age of musketeers and explorers, blending historical detail with adventure fiction. The character is gallant, intelligent, and fiercely loyal — embodying courage, wit, and moral integrity in equal measure.

Role in The Secret of the Unicorn

Sir Francis Haddock is introduced through the discovery of an antique model ship, The Unicorn, purchased by Tintin at a market. When multiple collectors and criminals attempt to buy or steal it, Tintin becomes entangled in a mystery involving hidden scrolls, a pirate treasure, and an ancient family secret.

Captain Haddock, intrigued by the ship’s name, recalls tales of his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock, told by his family. Tintin and Haddock visit the Captain’s ancestral home, Marlinspike Hall (Moulinsart in French), where Haddock recounts the story of his forebear’s confrontation with the pirate Red Rackham.

Through a vivid flashback sequence — one of Hergé’s finest achievements — the story transports readers to the 17th century, showing Sir Francis commanding the Unicorn as it is attacked by Rackham’s pirates. After fierce combat, the ship is captured. Rackham boards, confident of victory, but Sir Francis turns the tables through cunning and courage.

The Duel with Red Rackham

The duel between Sir Francis Haddock and Red Rackham is among the most memorable moments in The Adventures of Tintin. Surrounded and outnumbered, Sir Francis fights Rackham single-handedly in a scene charged with swashbuckling energy and moral symbolism.

He triumphs, but his victory comes at a cost. Realising that Rackham’s surviving crew will torture him for the treasure’s location, Sir Francis escapes the ship, scuttling it to prevent its capture and concealing its treasure in a secret location known only to him. He records clues to the treasure’s whereabouts in three identical parchments — one hidden inside each model of The Unicorn.

These scrolls, passed down through generations, ultimately lead Tintin and Captain Haddock to Red Rackham’s treasure centuries later.

Character and Personality

Sir Francis Haddock is depicted as:

• Brave and honourable: A true naval officer who values duty and honour above wealth or power.
• Clever and resourceful: His destruction of The Unicorn to keep it from pirates is an act of sacrifice and intelligence.
• Righteous and moral: He embodies courage without cruelty — the ideal of nobility that contrasts with Rackham’s greed and barbarism.

Despite his aristocratic title, Sir Francis is portrayed as modest and humane — a man of action and conscience. His sense of justice and self-control reflect qualities that his descendant, Captain Haddock, strives to live up to, albeit with comic imperfection.

Symbolism and Legacy

Sir Francis Haddock’s story functions as both a historical adventure and an allegory of heritage and redemption. The character symbolises:

1. Ancestral Honour: Sir Francis represents the nobility of purpose that redeems the later Captain Haddock, whose self-doubt and alcoholism are balanced by this inherited legacy of courage.
2. Moral Continuity: Through Sir Francis, Hergé links Tintin’s world of reason and justice with an older tradition of chivalry and duty.
3. Memory and Identity: The discovery of The Unicorn and the treasure allows Captain Haddock to reclaim his family’s lost honour and home — Marlinspike Hall — transforming him from a shipwrecked seaman into a man with purpose and dignity.

Artistic and Narrative Importance

The sequences involving Sir Francis Haddock mark a turning point in Hergé’s storytelling. The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure form one of Tintin’s most perfectly constructed duologies — a blend of mystery, history, and adventure rendered with cinematic precision.

Sir Francis, though seen only in flashback, anchors the entire narrative. His story gives the series emotional depth and connects Tintin’s rational modern world to the mythic past.

Hergé’s visual depiction of Sir Francis — tall, resolute, dressed in the navy blue and gold of the 17th-century Royal Navy, with a flowing wig and determined gaze — evokes both nobility and humanity. His calm heroism contrasts powerfully with the fury and greed of Red Rackham, reinforcing Hergé’s moral universe: reason and honour triumph over chaos and avarice.

Influence on Captain Haddock

Sir Francis Haddock’s influence on his descendant, Captain Archibald Haddock, is profound. The Captain’s surname, self-deprecating humour, and deep-seated pride all trace back to this ancestral figure.

In reclaiming Marlinspike Hall and The Unicorn’s treasure, Captain Haddock symbolically reclaims his family’s honour. The proud, disciplined knight at sea becomes the moral compass that steadies the modern seaman.

Where Captain Haddock struggles with temper, self-doubt, and drink, Sir Francis embodies calm authority, foresight, and dignity — the qualities his descendant unconsciously seeks to rediscover through friendship with Tintin.

Summary

• Full name: Sir Francis Haddock (Le Chevalier François de Hadoque)
• Era: Late 17th century, under King Louis XIV
• Ship: The Unicorn
• First appearance: The Secret of the Unicorn (1943)
• Final reference: Red Rackham’s Treasure (1944)
• Rival: Pirate Red Rackham
• Traits: Noble, courageous, intelligent, moral, loyal, and honourable
• Symbolism: Represents courage, lineage, and moral integrity — the ancestral ideal that redeems Captain Haddock’s modern flaws

Legacy

Sir Francis Haddock is one of Hergé’s most enduring creations, even though he appears only briefly. Through him, Hergé weaves a bridge between history and modernity, showing how honour and decency transcend generations.

In spirit, Sir Francis remains the quiet guardian of Marlinspike Hall — the ancestral conscience who reminds every reader that heroism, at its truest, is defined not by conquest, but by courage, sacrifice, and integrity.

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Cataloguer: Daniel Hornsey

Daniel Hornsey has specialised in fine and rare books, ephemera, and collectors’ editions for over thirty years. As a long-standing member of the antiquarian book trade, he has advised private collectors, curated catalogues, and sourced works for leading dealers, libraries and institutions across the world.

Hornseys’ exhibit regularly at book and map fairs in London and throughout the UK and are members of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association, the PBFA.

His fascination with Hergé’s work — especially ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ — began in childhood. Daniel recalls reading Tintin in original European editions and quickly recognising that these were not merely children’s books, but finely illustrated narratives crafted with artistic depth and wit.

As noted by the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve, Hergé’s ‘ligne claire’ style has influenced generations of European comic artists and his original drawings and paintings command very high prices with his painting of ‘The Blue Lotus’ jar fetching £2.8m at auction in 2021.

By presenting these works through Hornseys’, he hopes to contribute to the continued appreciation of one of the 20th century’s most influential illustrators, helping new generations discover the artistry and legacy of Hergé.