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the old books are lined up in a row on a white surfacemany old books stacked on top of each othermany old books stacked on top of each otherthe front cover of a book with a drawing of a man on horsebacka black and white drawing of a scroll with a bird on itan old picture of a man in a military uniform holding a rifledrawing of a view of a palace with horses and carriages in the foregrounda book that has a picture of a castle on itseveral old books stacked on top of each other on a tablean old picture of a man in a military uniforman old map of a city with a lot of buildings in itan old drawing of a view of a city from a hilla picture of a drawing of a city square with horses and carriages
Hôtel des Ventes de Clermont-Ferrand

489 - GAVARD (Charles). Versailles. Historical Galleries, dedicate…
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Estimate €800 - €1,000
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Description
GAVARD (Charles). Versailles. Historical Galleries, dedicated to Her Majesty the Queen of the French. Paris, Gavard, 1838–1841: 15 vols. large folio. Brown half-chagrin with corner pieces, spine with decorated raised bands (variation in decoration for the last two volumes). Some scuffing to the head and foot (not serious), water stains on a few spines. The pages are fresh apart from a few uniformly browned leaves. Our collection comprises the first 13 volumes, bringing together series 1 to 11, and the first two supplementary volumes. The engravings are printed on mounted China paper; the text and commentary pages are adorned with a border and woodcut vignettes. The edition was published in instalments from 1 May 1838 and continued with the supplements until 1849. Three editions of this work were published simultaneously (quarto, folio and large folio), comprising 13 volumes plus 6 supplementary volumes. The engravings were produced by Gavard, using a process he had invented (the ‘diagraphe’). The first volume contains the title page, the dedication to the Queen, the prospectus, the list of subscribers, the table of contents and the classification of the engravings across the 11 series, and the index of figures depicted in portraits. In 1833, Louis-Philippe decided to transform the Palace of Versailles into a museum. ‘The King, however, did not consider his work complete until he had made it accessible to all; he wished the engravings to reproduce even the smallest details of this immense museum of archaeology and history; over 2 million were spent on this reproduction. Begun as early as 1835, it was not completed until three years after the fall of the July Monarchy, by a man whose perseverance and dedication alone we shall praise here. The *Historical Galleries of Versailles*, comprising 19 large folio volumes and containing over 3,000 steel engravings, are themselves a monument of their kind. ’ (Vicaire, III, 950–952 – Brunet, II, 1508–1509.). (Not collated).
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About the sale ANTIQUE AND MODERN BOOKS at 11.00 am and 2.00 pm
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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