Rugendas Views of Brasil 1835

Rugendas, Maurice (1802-1858).
Voyage pittoresque dans le Bresil...traduit de l’Allemand par Mr. de Golbery.
Paris: Englemann et Cie, 1835.
Four parts in two volumes. Folio (19 x 13 inches). Lithographed half-title and title-page and 100 lithographed plates after Rugendas on India paper and mounted (some minor marginal spotting). Contemporary red half morocco gilt (a few repairs near spine ends). “...of utmost importance for the study of Brazilian life at the beginning of the 19th century†(Borba de Moraes). First collected French edition, bound from the original parts issued simultaneously in German and French between 1827 and 1834. The work is divided into four parts: “Paysagesâ€, 30 plates; “Portraits et Costumesâ€, 20 plates; “Moeurs et usages des Indiensâ€, 30 plates; and “Moeurs et usages des Nègresâ€, 20 plates. Besides their artistic and decorative merit, the plates have a “genuine documentary value, which are of utmost importance for the study of Brazilian life at the beginning of the 19th century†(Borba de Moraes). In 1821, at the tender age of 19, Rugendas, traveled to South America under the sponsorship of the Russian Consul-General in Brazil, Freiherr von Langsdorff. Soon after his arrival Rugendas set off to study the country, its flora and fauna and inhabitants, on his own, and his drawings documented the life of Rio and environs while Brazil was struggling for independence. By 1825 Rugendas had been summoned home to Bavaria by King Max Joseph, upon whose command he intended to publish an illustrated atlas of his travels. On his return journey Rugendas famously, and fortuitously, met Alexander von Humboldt in Paris, who was immediately taken with Rugendas’s illustrations. In Bavaria, by contrast, interest in them died with King Max Joseph so Rugendas returned to Paris in 1826. Borba de Moraes II:221; Sabin 73935; Colas 2594; Lipperheide Md12; Palau 281204.
Comparable: Christie’s, 2004 - $113,525 (Rare Colored State)