Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller - Old and Rare Books

Les Grands Crus Bordelais. Monographies et Photographies Des Chateaux et Vignobles (The Great Bordeaux Wines. Monographs and Photographs of Chateaux and Vineyards) (2 PARTS BOUND IN 1, w/ 55 ORIGINAL ALBUMEN PHOTOGRAPHS]

Danflou, Alfred

Bordeaux: Librairie Goudin, [1867]. Second edition. Hardcover. Folio. Part 1: viii, 9-110pp. Part 2 (Deuxime partie): 103, [4]pp. (+ 55 plates of albumen prints interleaved throughout). Re-bound in modern full brown leather boards, with gilt ruling and tooling on the covers. Spine with gilt lettering on red leather label, as well as blind-stamped tooling. Marbled edges of book block. Title page printed in red and black. Contains the two parts of the second edition of this important work, which were originally issued separately, bound together in a single volume. Although undated on the title page, the introductory text of the first part is dated January, 1867.

In 1866 photographer Alfred Danflou published the first edition of his noted work visually documenting the premiere vineyards and wine estates of the Bordeaux region. The seminal monograph was the first of its kind, and a landmark in the world of French wine, and wine in general. It is the earliest photo-illustrated publication devoted to vineyards, chateaux, and wine producers.

In this second edition, issued only one year later, the first part was expanded from 19 to 29 original albumen photographs, now covering the first three grand crus vineyards of Bordeaux (Premiere Grands Crus, Deuxièmes Crus, and Troisièmes Crus), and is accompanied by a separately-issued second part which contains the fourth and fifth growth producers (Quatrièmes Crus and Cinquièmes Crus), containing 26 photographs. The two parts together contain a total of 55 photographs, all mounted on heavy-stock paper plates, each with decorative borders and captions in red, as well as protective tissue guards. The photographs all measure 5 x 6 3/4". Each image corresponds with text discussing the history and biography of ownership for each of the respective chateaux/vineyards. The text originally from the first edition is here modified slightly in both the introduction and in the individual "monographie" sections, and the addition of a completely new short section discussing the nature of the Bordeaux wine classification system. Table of contents at the rear of each part. Text throughout in French.

As the author states in the introductory comments of the first edition, he worked in collaboration with Pierre Aussel ("Dr. Aussel") on the later's 1865 work "La Gironde à vol D'oiseau" (The Gironde from a Bird's Eye View) a comprehensive monograph on premiere Bordeaux wine. While visiting the various wine estates the two men wondered why these vineyard landscapes and the chateau architecture had never been visually documented before using the medium of photography. This photographic work was the result.

As Danflou states in the introductory text here: "We resolve to create, for the glory of our country, using not only our knowledge of viticulture and oenology, but the art of photography, which we have studied in detail, a study that the jury of the last Bordeaux exhibition deemed worthy of it's approval... We have therefor photographed the principal chateaux, with the intention of compiling an album that will form, in a way, a museum of great wines... For the first time the art of photography has been applied to reproduce these buildings that rise amidst the vines, some splendid in their magnificence, others graceful and charming in their simplicity."

It is interesting to note that this early publication documents a time when a number of the estates were classified differently than they are today, only around a decade after the establishment of the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Also of note is the fact within only the year in between publication of the first and second editions of this work, a number of the estates were changed in their classification. Additionally, a number of the chateaux included in second edition appear here for the first time, and were not in the first edition of the work. Those chateaux that were in the first edition are here represented by different photographs, making them unique to this edition.

The chateaux / vineyards included are introduced in an order relating to the quality of the wine. Part one: Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion (First), Branne-Mouton (purchased and renamed Mouton-Rothschild in 1853, here listed with its former name), Rauzan, Léoville, Gruaud-Larose, Pichon-Longueville, Cos-D'Estournel, Montrose, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Branne-Cantenac, Vivens-Durfort, Lascombes (Second), Lagrange, Langoa, Giscours, Saint-Exupéry, Ferrière, Becker, Desmirail, Dubignon (Third), and in part two D'Auc-Talbot, Beychevelle, Duluc, Milon-Duhart, Puget-Chavailles, etc.

Text in French.

Title page with some markings in ink along the gutter. Both the title page and p.17 contain a faded library ink stamp along the left margin and some small notes in pen on the right side, along the gutter. Interiors otherwise mostly clean, with only sporadic minor instances of foxing, mostly confined to the margins, when present. Images almost entire clean and vibrant. Book block tight and protected in modern mylar. Interior in very good to very good+ condition overall. vg to vg+. Item #52702

Bibliographic references:
- A New Art: Photography in the 19th Century. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. p. 303, no. 107.
- Berk, "A Toast to Antiquarian and Rare Wine Books", Bibliography p. 41.
- Bitting, p.114
- Vicaire 248
- Chwartz, I, no.354.

Price: $5,750.00