Voyage pictoresque de Paris; ou indication de tout ce qu'il y a de plus beau dans cette grande ville en peinture, sculpture, & architecture. Par M. D***.
Paris, chez De Bure l'aîné, 1749.
12mo, contemporary tortoise-shell patterned fawn calf, gilt spine with raised bands, red morocco lettering piece, and red edges. 277 pp. (including title), (43) pp. of index, approbation, privilège and errata. Complete.
Rare first edition.
A celebrated connoisseur’s guide to the chief artistic and architectural beauties of Paris by the noted French naturalist and art critic Antoine-Nicolas Dezallier d’Argenville (1723-1796), son of the famed naturalist and conchologist of the same name. The work was an instant bestseller, and at least six further editions appeared before the French Revolution.
Contemporary ownership inscription “Mde de la Berdelière” on the title page and verso of the last leaf.
Fine, crisp copy in period binding.
Ref. Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes, IV, 1094 / Dumolin, Notes sur les vieux guides de Paris, pp. 67-69 / Quérard, France littéraire, II, p. 550 / Quérard, Supercheries littéraires, I, 838 / Not in Brunet & Graesse
