Benoît, Pierre Jacques

Voyage à Surinam. Description des possessions néerlandaises dans la Guyane. Brussels: Société des Beaux-Arts, 1839



Folio (18 1/2 x 13 1/4 in.; 470 x 336 mm). Half-title, lithographed pictorial additional title, 49 tinted lithographed plates printed on india paper by Paul Lauters and Jean-Baptiste Madou after Benoît, each with paper guard; some spotting in margins of plate leaves and in the text leaves. Publisher's black morocco, gilt-tooled panel with title on upper cover and on spine, edges gilt, pink moiré doublures and endleaves; extremities rubbed. 

Duke of Tellez de Sylva (embossed bookplate on front pastedown)  — Albert, Graf Nostitz (stamped exlibris)

Sabin 4737

some marginal spotting and soiling on plate leaves. Publisher's black morocco, gilt-tooled panel with title on upper cover and on spine, edges gilt, pink moiré doublures and endleaves; extremities rubbed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First edition. The illustrations for this series provide unique portraits of Jewish and African daily life in Surinam in the early nineteenth century.  Plate XVI (image 32), for example, shows an African tailor's shop standing next door to a Jewish chandlery. Image 41 is a view of the settlement knows as the Jewish Savanna which, at the time of the artist's visit, was being abandoned.