Nantes - BENOIST (Félix) & LALAISSE (Hippolyte). Nantes - Lot 274

Nantes - BENOIST (Félix) & LALAISSE (Hippolyte). Nantes and the Loire-lnférieure. Monuments anciens et modernes, sites et costumes pittoresques, dessinés d'après nature par F. Benoist, et lithographiés par les premiers artistes de Paris. Nantes, Charpentier, 1850. Two volumes in-folio (48 x 32.5 cm), 2 ff. n. ch., III pp. 32 ff (text paginated by chapter), 1 f. n. ch. ; 2 ff. n. ch., III pp. 46 ff (text paginated by chapter), 1 f. n. ch. Dark green half-chagrin with corners, spine ribbed with gilt scrolls and the coat of arms of Brittany, gilt title and publisher, double gilt fillet on covers, gilt title in ornamented cartouche surmounted by the coat of arms of the city of Nantes on upper cover (publisher's binding). First edition illustrated with 74 lithographed plates, 63 of them after drawings by Félix Benoist, mostly in two-tone, on strong wove paper. The first volume covers the monuments of the city of Nantes, the second the surrounding castles, manors and churches. The last 11 plates, enhanced in color, feature Breton costumes drawn and lithographed by Hyppolite Lalaisse, as well as a map of Nantes and the surrounding area. The historical notes were written by a society of local men of letters, including Pierre-Michel-François Chevalier dit Pitre-Chevalier (1812-1863) and Émile Souvestre (1806-1854). A few browned plates, foxing, otherwise a good copy in publisher's binding with the coat of arms of Nantes and Brittany. (Colas, no. 293; Hiler, pp. 80 and 522; Brunet, I, col. 776). Expert : Madame Elvire POULAIN-MARQUIS