Nancy, Wiener (ainé) fils, n. d. [c. 1840-1850].
Oblong 4to [243 x 322 mm] of 1 frontispiece, 120 pp. of text printed in two columns per page, 1 double-page plate, 30 full-page chromolithographs, 1 black engraving, 1 folding map of Nancy.
Bound in the red editor’s cloth, blind-stamped fillets around the covers, gilt-stamped title in the center, flat spine. Contemporary binding.
A rare and sought-after volume on Nancy and its surroundings.
Along with a historical and descriptive text, this work contains 30 full-page chromolithographs (190 x 123 mm) drawn and lithographed by Adolphe Maugendre and printed by Wiener fils, a Nancy-based editor.
In addition to these 30 lithographs, this volume contains a colored lithographed title, a double-page colored plate, a black engraving and a folding plan of Nancy.
Adolphe Magendre, landscaper and lithographer, was born in 1809 close to Le Havre, in Ingouville. He died in Paris in 1895.
“Maugendre’s collections are rare and sought-after“. Bénézit.
Very finely drawn and with great precision in the details, these lithographs subtly evoke everyday life in Nancy during the 19th century in front of selected monuments or in famous places.
We can see the city hall, Stanislas square, the Cathedral, the churches of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours and Saint-Sebastien, the door of the citadel, the Ducal Palace, the castles of Craon, Fléville and Lunéville…
The plates come with an historical notice about the city and its surroundings by Henri Lepage, a French historian specialized in the history of Lorraine.
He adds in his note to the reader that “the goal of the following pages is to erase the unfavorable impressions that visitors may have about Nancy, and to destroy the general indifference of those who have lived in the city for a long time.”
This copy is bound in the oblong 4to format whereas common copies are in 8vo format. That is why the text was printed in two by two columns on each page.
The plate L’Eglise Saint Sébastien (Saint-Sebastien church) was bound twice in this copy.
Fine copy with nice colors preserved in its original condition.
Handwritten ex-libris in black ink on the title-page Af. Marscowski (?)
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