LABORDE, Léon de. - Lot 204

LABORDE, Léon de. Voyage de la Syrie par Mrs. Alexandre de Laborde, Becker, Hall et Léon de Laborde. Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1837. In-folio (61 x 45 cm), title, introduction and 81 ff. of plates. In sheets (some scattered foxing, marginal soiling). Only edition. Hardly ever seen in private hands. Beautifully illustrated publication on the Levant, its landscapes, architecture and people, with lithographs in black on prepared ground with white gouache highlights by hand. Lithographed title with vignette of the ruins of Palmyra, 2 historiated woodcut initials by Fragonard, colored lithographs on plates, by Letronne and Freeman after drawings by Laborde, Champmartin, Deroy... Some plates printed with touches of color Laborde, French archaeologist, politician and draughtsman, traveled throughout southern Europe, Egypt and the Middle East. In 1845, he left his post as secretary to the French Embassy, while retaining his position as director of antiquities at the Louvre, to devote himself to the publication of travel accounts and a study on the history of engraving. Brunet III, 714.