PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille. Arab Art as Seen in the Monuments - Lot 270

PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille. Arab Art as Seen in the Monuments of Cairo from the 7th Century to the End of the 18th Century. Atlas. Volume One. A volume of plates from the most important 19th-century study of Arab architecture. Paris, Morel, 1877. Folio (56 x 43 cm), red half-shagreen, ribbed spine, panels framed by blind-stamped fillets with a central gilt fleur-de-lis, gilt head. 4 unnumbered folios (half-title, title page, table of contents) and 67 lithographic or chromolithographic plates. Binding worn and scuffed; front cover and first double-leaf loose. Minor foxing. First volume of the plates in the first edition of this major 19th-century publication devoted entirely to Arab art. Achille Prisse d'Avennes (1807–1879), an archaeologist, spent nearly thirty years in Egypt and explored ancient monuments along the Nile as far as Nubia. Upon his return to France in 1860, he set to work on this monumental work based on his drawings and notes. The beautiful plates depict views of ruins (exterior and interior) and details of ornamentation (doors, door knockers, torches, plates, etc.). The plates are well preserved.