Antoine-Nicolas DEZALLIER D'ARGENVILLE

Third augmented edition of this important artistic guide to Paris under Louis XV. A title-frontispiece engraved in colors by J. Robert & 5 plates hors-texte including 2 folding by Choffart, Saint-Aubin. Four of them, signed by Choffard (1730-1809), reproduce the illustrations from the previous edition (1752). These are the Mausoleum of Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, by Jacques Sarazin in the church of Saint-Louis of the Jesuits (today reinstalled in the chapel of the château de Chantilly), the tombs of the painter Charles Le Brun and his mother at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, and Bouchardon's Fountain on rue de Grenelle. A fifth unpublished plate was added for this new edition...

New edition, rare and posthumous, illustrated with two allegorical frontispieces by Renou and engraved by Robert.
Contemporary full marbled calf bindings. Raised band spines decorated with compartmented onion tools and roulettes, red morocco title labels. One lack at head of volume I and a cut at head of volume II (with slight lack). Upper joint of volume I cracked at head, and upper joint of volume II narrowly cracked at tail. 2 corners bumped. Rubbing. Light offsetting from the engraving on the title page of volume I. Margins foxed on half-title and final leaves. Despite the few defects mentioned, a handsome copy with quality binding.
The Lives of Architects and...