Voyage Pittorèsque de Paris au Havre

Paris: Louis Janet, 1828. A Color-Plate Tour Down the River Seine

[MALO, Charles]. Voyage Pittorèsque de Paris au Havre sur les Rives de la Seine. Paris: Louis Janet, [1828].

First edition. Sixteenmo (5 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches; 146 x 89 mm.). [viii], [1]-207, [1, blank] pp. Hand colored copper-plate vignette title-page of a steam ship on the Seine and ten charming hand-colored copper plates depicting a journey down the Seine from Paris to Le Havre.

Beautifully bound ca. 1960 in full maroon straight-grain morocco, covers richly decorated in gilt with an inlaid central oval of olive green morocco and four small red flowers in corners. Spine with five raised bands, decoratively ruled and lettered in gilt and with inlaid red or olive green oval panels decorated in gilt. Decorative gilt ruled board edges, decoratively ruled turn-ins, marbled endpapers and original? pink paper wrappers bound in. All edges gilt.

A truly wonderful copy of this charming little tour down the river Seine.

"An anonymously published travel account by Paris historian and man of letters, Charles Malo. It has been suggested that the publisher was possibly Jules Didstaire. Historian Malo's work has been described as "one of the most charming of almanacs from French publisher Louis Janet." The handcoloured copper engraved plates show St. Denis, Poissy, Triel, Mantes, La Roch Guyon, Le Petit Andelys, Elbeuf, Rouen, the mouth of the Seine and Le Havre." (Bobins).

Barbier IV, 1094; Bobins III, 947; Querard, La France Litteraire V, 476; Hoefer xxxii; Not in Abbey or Tooley.