[Atlas]. SELVES (Henry Antoine Auguste). Atlas géographique - Lot 117

[Atlas]. SELVES (Henry Antoine Auguste). Atlas géographique dressé sous la direction du Conseil royal de l'Instruction publique pour l'usage des collèges... comprenant les trois parties suivantes: géographie ancienne, géographie du Moyen Âge, géographie moderne actuelle. A Paris, Impr. de Selves fils, lithographe de l'Université, 1822 (i.e. 1821-1825). In-folio, early 20th c. red half-basane, smooth spine, title and gilt fillet (etiq. at tail of spine, small stains and epid. on spine; title faded with tear in margin, russ. on last plate, 1 plate soiled but not seriously soiled). Rare first lithographed French atlas. The author, H. A. A. Selves (1790-1823), obtained a lithographer's patent in 1818 or 1819 and published a number of educational works until around 1830. As early as 1819, he offered for sale a lithographed atlas with blank maps. The atlas consists of a title leaf and 3 parts with 41 lithographed and colored double maps (1 blank world map, 24 maps for ancient and historical geography up to 1789, one filled-in world map, and 16 maps for the "modern present" period). Some maps bear dates between 1821 and 1825. The only copy in the BnF (Ars fol H 204) contains intermediate titles for each part, which have not been preserved here. Initials "V.F." stamped on title and in one margin.