PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant T. Emile. - Lot 122

PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant T. Emile. L'Art Arabe d'après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu'à la fin du XVIIIe. Paris, Ve A. Morel et Cie, 1869-1877. Three volumes in folio (58 x 42 cm), 3 titles, 3 tables, 200 plates, leaves in three red half-cotton folders, gilt title and gilt stamps on spine (wear marks and some repairs on folders, light foxing, some marginal stains or soiling not serious on some plates). Atlas only, complete with 200 plates, including numerous chromolithographs and colored lithographs. The first volume contains interior and exterior views of Cairo's public, private and religious buildings, as well as numerous details of mosaic pavements and coverings; the second volume contains mainly elements of woodwork (minbars, doors, etc.) and mural faience decoration; the last volume groups together objets d'art (glassware, fabrics, weapons, manuscripts and Korans). Émile Prisse d'Avennes (1807-1879), French orientalist and artist, was one of the great pioneers of the study of Islamic art and architecture in the XIXᵉ century. A tireless traveler, he criss-crossed Egypt and the Middle East for almost 40 years, bringing back an exceptional documentation of drawings, surveys and photographs. Published between 1869 and 1877, L'Art arabe... remains one of the most important reference works on Islamic art, remarkable for its precision and rich iconography. [Egypt].