[Paris]. TURGOT], BRETEZ (Louis). Plan de Paris, commencé l' - Lot 104

[Paris]. TURGOT], BRETEZ (Louis). Plan de Paris, commencé l'année 1734. Dessiné et gravé sous les ordres de Messire Michel Etienne Turgot conseiller d'état, Prévôt des March[an]ds. Completed in 1739. Surveyed and drawn by Louis Bretez. Engraved by Claude Lucas and written by Aubin. [Paris, 18th c.]. Engraved plan, on 20 assembled leaves, approx. 320 x 250 cm, with careful modern coloring. The most famous plan of Paris, and rightly so, since it offers without question the finest representation of the city under the Ancien Régime that we have ever seen. A prestigious achievement, it was conceived by Michel Etienne Turgot, Provost of Paris, who entrusted its production to Louis Bretez, a member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture, and carefully monitored every stage of its execution. Intended above all to promote the grandeur of the city of Paris and the kingdom, the plan was widely distributed throughout the provinces of France, and to the principal courts of Europe. A fine copy of an 18th-century edition, assembled and colored, in an unusual and highly decorative presentation. (Boutier, 219).