Historical Description Of The Royal Hotel Of The Invalides 1756 Abbé Pereau

Abbé Gabriel Louis Perau
Historical Description of the Hôtel Royal des Invalides Paris, Guillaume Desprez, Printer-Bookseller to the King, rue Saint-Jacques, 1756 With the King's approval and privilege. Large folio (approx. 52 × 34 cm). Contemporary brown calf binding, spine with raised bands richly decorated with gilt fleur-de-lis compartments, title label, speckled edges. First edition of this important work devoted to the Hôtel des Invalides, founded under Louis XIV. Abbé Perau provides a detailed historical, institutional, and architectural description of this emblematic establishment of the French monarchy, accompanied by exceptional iconographic documentation. The illustrations, of major interest, comprise a very extensive set of 108 copperplate engravings, including: general plans and details of the building; elevations and geometric sections; views of the façades and the chapel; decorative and sculpted elements; and details of interior ornamentation. Several plates are engraved from drawings by Charles-Nicolas Cochin, engraver to the King, guaranteeing the quality and precision of the architectural survey. This work constitutes an essential source for the history of 18th-century French architecture and for the study of the decoration of Les Invalides during the Classical period. Collation: title printed in red and black with an engraved vignette; text in two columns; 108 engraved plates outside the text. Binding: contemporary calfskin, showing marked wear (skin abrasions, rubbed headcaps and corners, weakened joints), nevertheless decorative and authentic. Interior condition: generally satisfactory; foxing and soiling from use, without major damage to the plates.