La Guadeloupe pittoresque

First edition, exceptionally rare, of this magnificent album of views of Guadeloupe, illustrated with twelve lithographs executed by Émile Vernier after drawings by Armand Budan: an engraved title-frontispiece and eleven plates, including a large folding panoramic view of Pointe-à-Pitre.

Large folio (39.6 × 54 cm). Collation: 3 unnumbered leaves comprising the title, preface and half-title Karukera, pp. [3]-44, one blank leaf, the lithographic title-frontispiece and eleven lithographic plates.

Early twentieth-century half brown buckram over marbled paper boards, smooth spine with long dark brown morocco lettering-piece, boards ruled in blind, blue endpapers, sprinkled edges. A few minor spots of foxing.

Born at Anse-Bertrand, Guadeloupe, in 1827, Armand Budan belonged to the generation of artists who transformed the visual representation of the French Caribbean during the mid-nineteenth century. A painter responsible for decorative schemes in several public buildings, he also ranks among the earliest photographers active in the French West Indies. Shortly before leaving for Paris, he launched a subscription in November 1862 to finance the publication of this ambitious work, which appeared in twelve parts and reached Guadeloupe towards the end of 1863.

The album brings together eleven of the island's most characteristic views, ranging from the volcanic landscapes, rivers and waterfalls of Basse-Terre to the towns of Grande-Terre, culminating in a magnificent folding panorama of the harbour of Pointe-à-Pitre. The town occupied a central place in Budan's career: a few years earlier he had executed the scenery for the municipal theatre as well as mural paintings for the church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1843. After settling in Paris, he exhibited regularly at the Salon between 1863 and 1867 before dying at Saint-Pierre, Martinique, in 1874.

Both an artist's work and an important documentary record of Guadeloupe under the Second Empire, this album ranks among the last great lithographed publications devoted to the French Caribbean before new reproductive technologies permanently transformed illustrated publishing. Its imposing format, the quality of its lithographs, and its exceptional rarity make it one of the most remarkable nineteenth-century pictorial works devoted to Guadeloupe.