i cant quite make out what this says..one of you guys is sure to know..
fisrst word is ilegible but appears 4 letters long..so i have something like ---- acier -ondu
8 inches long,,both the jaws move on adjustment.

I can't make out the first word, but "acier fondu" is French for "molten steel"...

You might try a Google search with something like: "clé à molette ancienne" "acier fondu"...

More specifically, acier fondu is the French term for "cast steel."  Older and better French tools have this mark.

Schulz #764 and 765 are similar and are marked as being French made. 764 is marked "Brevetes 9. McDele Depose. Ladreze."

Somebody in the past cut the jaws off one side of this classic French wrench.  Why? To make the wrench smaller, and therefore more suitable in tight quarters? 

I dont want to buy it but I sure do like the lines and the mechanism of that wrench, someone here recently had a set of adjustables that were primo in design, S shaped round headed jobs, this wrench would look great displayed with those

I hope you polish that handle with some Wd-40 maybe, I bet that will be so pretty when done and post another picture

>Somebody in the past cut the jaws off ...

That type of wrench seems inappropriate for tight places , even with the jaws shortened, however, the sawed off jaws might allow you to hammer the wrench onto a stubborn nut, common practive with traditional type monkey wrenches...

Or perhaps it's owner simply wanted a traditional monkey type wrench...(If the jaws had been badly damaged already it would be a sensible 'improvment' to the wrench....)

I have a large german made double jaw wrench around here somewhere (twist handle) , it is very kewl looking, but, I have never been able to figure out what the advantage of having 2 jaws exactly alike was supposed to be...

Rusty, one side for taking it apart and the other side is to put it back together............

Yeah, one side for right handers, and the other for left-handers!

AhA!!!

And here I was thinking the French had invented the first Metric/American wrench...

someone here recently had a set of adjustables that were primo in design, S shaped round headed jobs, this wrench would look great displayed with those

that would be me too

Boy do I like those wrenches, I have display cabinets for my tools but these would be the first that would get hung in a glass box up on the wall. You have good taste in tools and are lucky with your finds benjy