The Contemporary Gallery 8 Volumes

Masterpiece of 19th century photography. First edition Hard cover. Half shagreen with period corners, spine with five decorated and gilded raised bands. Bindings signed by Magnier. Golden head slices. Eight volumes in folio (350x275 mm), Text paper with foxing. Covers of rubbed bindings. Around 1884, Paul de Lacroix proposed this publication bringing together 200 biographical notices (for 132 historical figures, certain artists being the subject of several notices). Those concerning Literators, musicians, etc. are illustrated with photographic portraits on out-of-text plates. The notices concerning the painters and sculptors are illustrated with a photographic portrait in the text and a reproduction of one of his works on a plate outside the text (or several if there are several notices for the same artist). S The series is complete with the 200 notes expected for 132 biographies and is illustrated with 267 photographs: - 131 portraits (65 in large format mounted on tabs and 66 in medallions laminated in the text) - 136 reproductions of works (135 in large format mounted on tab and 1 in inset laminated in the text). Coming from the largest photography workshops (Nadar, Carjat, Goupil, Petit.) they are reproduced by photoglypy which is then the only printing process allowing such a faithful reproduction of photographic plates. This gallery bears witness to the intellectual and cultural life of the late 19th century by providing the biographies of numerous contemporary celebrities: writers, scientists, artists, politicians. from Rossini to Ferdinand de Lesseps via Hugo, Baudelaire and Dumas. Sought after for his portraits, in particular the famous portrait of Baudelaire by Carjat, but also those of Victor Hugo, Gustave Doré, Edmond de Goncourt, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Georges Sand, Sarah Bernhardt, Alexandre Dumas, Gustave Eiffel, Victor Hugo, Louis Pasteur, Emile Zola..
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