Historical Description Of The Hotel Royal Des Invalides, First Edition, 1756

Gabriel Louis Calabre Perau, Prior of the Sorbonne and Abbot
Historical Description of the Royal Hospital of Les Invalides
Paris, Guillaume Desprez, the King’s official printer and bookseller, Rue Saint-Jacques, 1756
With the King’s approval and privilege.

Large folio (approx. 52 × 34 cm). Contemporary brown calfskin binding, spine ribbed and richly decorated with gilded fleur-de-lis panels, title label, speckled edges.

First edition of this important work devoted to the Hôtel des Invalides, founded under Louis XIV. Abbé Pétau provides a detailed historical, institutional, and architectural description of this iconic institution of the French monarchy, accompanied by exceptional illustrative material.

The illustrations, of great interest, consist of a very extensive collection of 108 copper-engraved plates, including:

• general plans and details of the building
• elevations and geometric sections
• views of the facades and the chapel
• decorative and sculpted elements
• details of interior ornamentation

Several plates were engraved from drawings by Charles-Nicolas Cochin, engraver to the King, ensuring the quality and precision of the architectural documentation.

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: period calfskin, showing significant wear (scratches on the leather, rubbed caps and corners, weakened clamps), yet decorative and authentic.
Internal condition: generally satisfactory; foxing and normal soiling from use, with no major damage to the plates.