Melling | Voyage pittoresque dans les Pyrenees Francaises, 1826-30

Antoine-Ignace Melling—Joseph-Antoine Cervini

Voyage Pittoresque dans les Pyrénées françaises. Paris, printed by the author and Treuttel et Wurtz, 1826-30

FIRST EDITION, folio (578 x 408mm.), half-title, title, engraved portrait of Melling, engraved map, 72 engraved plates, edge bound, contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, some foxing, mostly marginal but affecting several engravings, joints starting, extremities bumped, head and foot of spine frayed

A tall copy. Melling (1763-1831) is best known for his work in Constantinople, where he was employed as architect to Selim III between 1782 and 1803. On his return to France, he began work on the celebrated Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople, which he had completed by 1819. In 1821, he travelled thoughout the Pyrenees region, producing a series of sepia watercolours which formed the basis of the present work. Melling's intention was to demonstrate that the scenery of the Pyrenees was as picturesque as that of the Alps in Switzerland and Italy.

LITERATURE:

Brunet III 1591-1592