[COLLECTIVE]. Paris-Guide, par les principaux écrivains et a - Lot 6

[COLLECTIVE]. Paris-Guide, par les principaux écrivains et artistes de la France. A very fine copy of this guide to Paris by the greatest writers of the 19th century; one of only a few copies printed on colored paper. Paris, A. Lacroix - Verboeckhoven et Cie, 1867. 2 vols. in-8 (20 × 14 cm), midnight blue half chagrin, spine with 5 raised bands (period binding). Bindings and corners rubbed, otherwise good copies. Illustrated with 118 plates hors texte, plus 16 double plates (plans of Paris theaters), 3 plans, 4 maps, 14 pp. of facsimiles of signatures and autographs. First edition. ONE OF ONLY A FEW COPIES ON COLORED PAPER, HERE ON BLUE PAPER. Vicaire reports copies on green, blue and pink paper, as well as Chine and Hollande. The work opens with a 36-p. introduction by Victor Hugo, signed at Hauteville House in May 1867. Indeed, on the occasion of the Exposition Universelle of the same year, Victor Hugo, then in exile in Guernsey, was entrusted with the opening text of the Paris-Guide, which was printed separately (same publishers, in-8, 132 p., 6 ff. n. ch.). In addition to its historical description, this text "stands out above all as a manifesto of Hugolian political thought. It is a hymn to peace, fraternity, the universality of the Enlightenment and technical progress as a vehicle for the aforementioned values". (Thierry Savatier) This major publishing venture, orchestrated by Louis Ulbach and Philippe Burty (for the engravings) for Librairie Internationale, remains one of the most important collective works of the 19th century. Like "Le Diable à Paris" or "Les Français peints par eux-même", it featured contributions from the greatest writers of the time: Victor Hugo, Théophile Gautier, Sainte-Beuve, Dumas, Michelet, Viollet-le-Duc, Janin, George Sand, Heredia, Banville... Each is assigned a note on a monument, a neighborhood or an aspect of Parisian life in the mid-19th century. The book is divided into 3 parts: Life, Science and Art.