Lot 213: SAMUEL BIRMANN (1793-1847)

SAMUEL BIRMANN (1793-1847)

Souvenirs de la vallée de Chamonix. Basle: Birmann et fils, 1826. 2° (465 x 310mm). Engraved title, 25 hand-coloured aquatint views after S. Birmann, folding lithographic panorama of Bréven after Birmann, 2 in-text engraved diagrammatic keys. Deckle edges. (Faint damp-stain in bottom margins, very occasional light scattered spotting and soiling in the margins.) Contemporary green half-morocco, flat spine ruled and lettered in gilt (old repair on spine-foot, repair on spine-head, extremities rubbed, joints starting, upper board lightly scuffed). Provenance: George Rouiller's English and French Reading Room Circulating Library, Lausanne (large engraved bookplate).

FIRST EDITION, A TALL, HAND-COLOURED COPY. The Mont Blanc forms the heart of Birmann's picturesque voyage, and his aquatints include a number of fine views of Western Europe's highest mountain -- from Sallenche, Prieuré, Servoz, the Courtil, and near the Lac de Chède. Brunet lists three issues -- one on 'papier de Chîne' (as this one), one on 'grand papier anglais', and one on 'Whatman, figures coloriées avec soin'. RARE: ABPC records only one copy selling at auction in over 30 years. Brunet I, 954; Lonchamp 338 (incorrectly noting 26 plates).

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