Le Bois de Vincennes. Décrit et Photograpié (Le Bois de Vincennes. Described and Photographed)
Paris: A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven et Cie. Librairie Internationale, 1866. First edition. Hardcover. Folio. (3 leaves), 71 (4)pp. 22 plates with full page Albumen prints, including frontispiece, 2 in-text prints, 1 on title page, 1 b/w map. Original pebbled blue cloth with gilt-framed, gilt-illustrated cover and spine, both with gilt lettering, and gilt-stamped coat of arms on back cover, protected by modern mylar. Coated yellow endpapers. Frontispiece silver print. Title page printed in red and black with silver print.
Le Bois de Vincennes is the largest public park in Paris, created between 1855 and 1866 by Emperor Napoleon III. The park is located next to the Chateau de Vincennes at the eastern edge of Paris. At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris most of the events took place in the park. In 1931 the Paris Colonial Exposition was held here for six months and during the Battle of France in 1940 it became the headquarters of the French General Staff.
The descriptive text by Émile de la Bédollière is illustrated with twenty-two full page albumen silver prints by Ildefonse Rousset, pasted into debossed frames, each with a protective blank page, two in-text silver prints and a silver print on the title page.
The Albumen silver prints by Rousset include views of the waterfalls of Lake Minimes, the park from the Plateau de Gravelle, the plateau of the Kiosk de Gravelle, a sheep pen, a paddock, the waterfalls at Lake Minimes, Lake Minimes, the entrance of Fontenay, the dungeon of Vincennes, a recreational "cat and rat game," the Lake St. Mandé, the Pompadour River, the Imperial Castle, the caves and the Temple of Diane, Lake Charenton and other views of the park.
A map of the Bois de Vincennes, the table of content, a list of plates and two pages of advertisements for publications by the author and photographer at rear. Text in French. Binding with light wear along edges, small chips at corners and head and tail of spine and lightly rubbed. Two inches of plate following page 42 detached from cloth at bottom, page and plate perfectly intact. Some minor damp-staining at free endpapers. Binding in overall good+, interior in very good to near fine condition. g+ to fine condition. Item #48285
Price: $2,000.00