[From Gardening with Old Roses, by Alan Sinclair and Rosemary Thodey, p. 43:] The Boursaults appeared in France early in the nineteenth century and are thought to have been the result of a union between R. pendulina and R. chinensis.

[From The Ultimate Rose Book, by Stirling Macoboy, p. 86:] The now almost forgotten Boursault Roses take their name from an influential rosarian of Napoleon's time. It was said that his approval of a new variety guaranteed its popularity, and he particularly liked this small group of thornless climbing roses...

[From The Rose Manual, by Robert Buist, pp. 13-14:] R. alpina (The Boursault Rose) takes its name from the late Mons. Boursault, a distinguished French amateur horticulturalist... the hardiest of the climbing roses... flowering profusely early in the season; they may well be termed the harbingers of the rosary... liable to sucker... introduced in 1829-1830... 'Inermis' [is the only Boursault] having a little fragrance, of which, with this exception, this group is entirely destitute...
[From ibid, p. 15:] They should have... plenty of space... for after being one or two years established, they will make shoots ten to twelve feet long... flowers are produced on old wood... they are hardy...

[From Botanica's Roses, p. 379:] ['Mme. de Sancy de Parabère'] is one of only two Boursaults cultivated today ('Amadis' is the other), a class of rose that originated in Paris.