Les échanges artistiques entre le Japon et la France à partir de 1854 furent parmi les plus fructueux de l’histoire des arts. La fascination qu’exercèrent les arts orientaux sur les écrivains français et la capacité d’assimilation des techniques occidentales par les artistes japonais ont été à la source d’une formidable créativité donnant naissance à de nombreux chefs- d’œuvre, prisés par les collectionneurs depuis près de deux siècles.
First edition of which there were no grand papier (deluxe) copies, an advance (service de presse) copy.
Small foxing on covers marginally and slightly sunned, one joint cracked and glued down to foot, a small tear to head of spine.
Illustrated, as frontispiece, with a drawing by Etienne Dinet.
Handsome autograph inscription signed by Etienne Dinet to Georges Rochegrosse : "A G. Rochegrosse cordial souvenir de son vieil ami."
The rare first edition, illustrated with a folding map.
Contemporary half green sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with fillets. Gilt title. Tear to headcap with loss. One corner stripped of paper. Rubbing. Trace of pale dampstain on the map and from the first page of text to p. 69 in lower margin, and on the table. Stains on spine.
Physical and human geography of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and India, customs and manners. The volume was published when Bonaparte's Egyptian expedition had just been launched; it evokes the mythical route followed by Alexander the Great, from Egypt to India, a route coveted by the French.
NB: This work is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.
The rare first edition of these two volumes published two years apart, the continuation of which would never see the light of day. With one frontispiece and one large folding genealogical chart.
Copy with the arms of Louis XV stamped on the boards, and his cipher repeated on the spine, a presentation copy.
Contemporary full marbled brown calf bindings. Spine with raised bands decorated with Louis XV's cipher repeated four times with angular fleurs-de-lys. Red morocco title and volume labels. Armorial boards. Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. Headcaps restored. Several splits along the upper joint of volume I and volume II. Corners and certain areas of the leading edges restored. Lacking the right corner of the first endpaper. Very faint dampstain trace in margin extending onto text from page 217 to the end; from page viiij to xxxviij in margin; similarly on the rear endpapers of volume II. Despite the mentioned defects, a rare copy with the arms and cipher of Louis XV.
The work contains a long introduction that clarifies Chevalier d'Arcq's project as a historian. His critical method of examining texts is scrupulous, he rejects what is not proven and openly aligns himself with the most reliable hypotheses. This method and his work were praised by Le Journal des scavants which reviewed the first book in 1756 then the second in 1758, with numerous compliments, notably on the author's elegant style and his way of creating a vividly colored narrative from stark facts. Beyond history and geography, the author seeks the essentially military aspect and shows how wars, between victories and defeats, have shaped the geography of peoples, and precipitated the end and birth of kingdoms. Volume I deals with Greater and Lesser Armenia (Cappadocia, etc.), the second with the kingdoms around Pontus (Phrygia, Paphlagonia, Heraclea, Pergamon...). Although the work treats a rare ancient history and its reading is fascinating, the book did not meet with success, and the editorial project was not carried through to completion.
