THE UNIVERSE. History and description of all peoples 23 volu - Lot 35

THE UNIVERSE. History and description of all peoples 23 volumes. A magnificent illustrated world tour in a romantic, uniform green half-maroquin binding. Paris, Firmin Didot, 1835-1856. 23 vol. in-8, green half-maroquin, romantic smooth spine decorated with gilded fillets, curves, interlacing, fleurons and zoomorphic irons, blue speckled pages for 17 of the volumes. Approx. 400 to 700 pp. per volume (uncollated), numerous steel-engraved plates and several fold-out maps. Spines browned, some rubbing and foxing. Rare first edition series of the remarkable "L'Univers" collection published by Firmin Didot Frères between 1835 and 1863, here 23 volumes out of 65 issued. Our set contains: - England (volume III, 1842 and volume IV, 1844, containing the end of England and Scotland and Ireland) - Brazil, Colombia and the Guianas (1837) - China (1837) - Ancient Egypt (1839) - States of the German Confederation to follow the General History of Germany (1842) - France (volume IX containing the encyclopedic volume G-L, 1843) - Greece (1835) - Islands of Greece (1853) - India (1845) - Italy (1835) - Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia (1843) - Oceania (3 vols., 1836-37) - Persia (1841) - Poland (1840) - Danubian and Romanian Provinces (1856) - Russia (2 vols., 1838) - Sweden and Norway (1838) - Switzerland and Tyrol (1838) - Turkey (1840) This monument to the encyclopedic tradition of the 18th century goes beyond a simple history lesson to offer readers a remarkable array of ethnographic, cultural, geographical and artistic data, particularly in the volumes dedicated to exotic lands, each with numerous full-page plates. The result of a collective scientific effort, each volume is edited by a well-known expert on the subject in question, as in the case of "Ancient Egypt" by Jacques-Joseph Champollion, brother of the most famous Egyptologist of the 19th century, or "Russia" by Jean-Marie Chopin, the Czar's ambassador to France. Our copy is all the more interesting for its charming binding in romantic green half-maroquin with a naturalist inspiration that evokes the promised voyage. Impressive set in good condition.