Wismes (Baron de) [reliure aux armes ; Le Mans ; Angers] - Le Maine historique, archéologique et pittoresque [60 lithographies] - 1862

Beautiful binding decorated with large irons with composite coats of arms of three cities including those of Le Mans and Angers.
First edition of this regionalist work published in deliveries which contains 60 beautiful lithographed plates in monochrome on strong vellum based on the compositions of Baron de Wismes, including a frontispiece title. Controlled and complete.

Full period red shagreen, large coat of arms struck in the center of the boards in a gilded frame accompanied by rocaille motifs in the corners. Ornate ribbed spine, title, fillets forming boxes. Interior lace. All golden edges.

The lithographs, always animated, represent the main sites and towns of the Maine region, and were produced by French, Leroux, Nanteuil, Mouilleron according to the author's drawings.

Héracle-Olivier, Baron de Wismes (1814-1887) , etching and draftsman; Archaeologist, passionate about monuments from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, he studied the monuments of Sarthe, Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire and led the Archaeological Society of Nantes. He published from 1854 to 1862, in fifty staggered deliveries, this collection of monographs of remarkable sites and monuments, which he then grouped into two volumes. Our copy is complete with all the deliveries gathered in a single volume.

In addition to the texts of Baron de Wismes, contributions from Abbot Launay, Paul Piolin, Armand Guéraud, Léon de la Sicotière, Gustave de Lestang, Mégret du Coudray, Anatole de Montesquiou, Louis la Beauluère, Aymar de Blois, Paul Belleuvre, Aimé de Soland, Victor Pavie, Eliacin Lachèse, Godard-Faultrier, Eugène de la Gournerie, the Count of Quatrebarbes, Paul Marchegay, Louis Lacour, Célestin Port, Eugène Berger, Marin de Livonnière, Emile Bonneserre de Saint-Denis, De Bodard de la Jacopière and Jules Clère. Lithographs by Philippe Benoist, Eugène Ciceri, Bachelier, Célestin Nanteuil, Jules Arnout, Adolphe Mouilleron, Auguste Mathieu, Adolphe Rouargue, Eugène Deshayes, Eugène Leroux, Louis Français, etc.

Remarkable copy in a luxurious binding with the arms. Usage defects: missing fragments in the head cap, a pierced corner, friction. 4 cm tear in the first bit (starting from the head cap) . Solid volume. Sporadic foxing, variable depending on the page. Lithographs are not impacted (only the margins) . Good overall condition.

Wismes (Baron of)
Historic, archaeological and picturesque Maine. Collection of the most remarkable sites and monuments in terms of art and history, from entire departments of Sarthe and Mayenne, drawn by Baron de Wismes, lithographed by the best artists in Paris, and accompanied a historical, archaeological and descriptive text,
Nantes, Typography by Vincent Forest & Émile Grimaud [and] Paris, Lithographic Printing by Auguste Bry, undated [circa 1862]
in-plano (47 x 32 cm) ; multiple pagination 4 to 14 pages per delivery [approx. 300 pages]

Subject: Superb binding with the arms Le Mans Angers 60 Lithographs Baron Wismes Maine Historical In-plano 1862