[Pyrenees]. MELLING (Antoine-Ignace). Album pittoresque hist - Lot 64

[Pyrenees]. MELLING (Antoine-Ignace). Album pittoresque historique et monumental. The French Pyrenees. From Biaritz to Perpignan. Drawings by Melling. Engravings by Piringer, Gibel and Salathé. Paris, Aux Bureaux de l'Encyclopédie des Gens du Monde, [circa 1830]. In broadside, publisher's modest gray half cloth, title illustrated with vignette on upper board, remnants of laces (binding faded; small tears without mq. in margin of title, moderate russ. on first 3 f, russ. and qq. small marginal halos very rare and moderate). Splendid and important album illustrating the Pyrenees based on compositions by painter and draughtsman Antoine-Ignace Melling (1763-1831). It consists of a title page illustrated with a vignette, an engraved itinerary map, and 72 aquatint plates of landscapes and miscellaneous views. This appears to be a special edition of the 72 plates published in issues between 1826 and 1830, accompanied by a text by J.-A. Cervini and a portrait of the artist not included here. We have not found any copies with this title and presentation in the major online union catalogs. This copy has wide margins (46 x 62 cm.).