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AGUTTES
120
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[BERTHIER]. HUNTING MAPS. Volumes I and II.
See original version (French)
120
-
[BERTHIER]. HUNTING MAPS. Volumes I and II.
See original version (French)
Estimate €500 - €600
Voluntary lot
Description
[BERTHIER].
HUNTING MAPS. Volumes I and II.
[Topographical map of the area around Versailles, known as the ‘Imperial Hunting Grounds’, surveyed and drawn up between 1764 and 1773 by the military surveyors of the Camps and Armies, under the command of the late Colonel Berthier, their chief].
(c. 1801–1805).
11 maps with white silk bookmarks in 2 contemporary red morocco book cases in small square 8vo format, decorated with gilt fillets and scrolls, gilt titles with pasted-on title labels (one of which is detached), gilded title label (normal signs of wear and small stains; old library labels; a few small stains or discolouration occasionally on the reverse of the maps).
Description:
Rare. Set of hunting maps engraved in black on copper, very finely drawn.
10 maps in small folio format (45 x 80 cm) in 21 segments and one map in 8 segments (26 x 30 cm), mounted on navy blue silk.
The areas mapped are mainly around Versailles and eastern Paris.
The maps are in very good condition.
The commission for these maps was actually placed during the Ancien Régime by Louis XV; work was halted by the Revolution and then completed during Napoleon’s reign. Jean-Baptiste Berthier, father of the Minister of War who completed the map, died before the completion of his life’s work.
Our copy appears to be from the penultimate print run, as it contains two blank ‘maps’ bearing only the engraved place names. One of the 12 maps is also missing, though it may have been removed (in 1792, only 5 of the 12 sheets were engraved, notably by Perdoux, an engraver active between 1788 and 1792 at the Hôtel de la Guerre in the Palace of Versailles).
WATERS AND FORESTS. HUNTING. EMPIRE.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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