Montulé, Edouard de

Voyage en Amérique, en Italie, en Sicilie, et en Egypte, pendant les Années 1816, 1817, 1818 et 1819. [with atlas title:] Recueil des Cartes et des Vues du Voyage en Amérique ... Paris: [Doublet (I) or Boucher (II) for]  Delaunay & Belon, 1821



2 text volumes, 8vo (7 3/4 x 4 7/8 in.; 197 x 124 mm), 1 atlas volume, oblong folio (10 x 13 3/4 in.; 254 x 350 mm). Half-titles, 59 numbered lithographed plates including title and 2 folding maps (of eastern North America and the Nile valley), some plates with siena or green tint, printed by the Comte de Lasteyrie except plate ix printed by Marlet; blank upper fore-corner of first half-title torn away, very light occasional marginal spots in text, heavier spotting in margin and image of 23 plates, clean fold tear at outer edge of America map and small marginal tear mended. Contemporary quarter sheep and marbled boards, spines gilt, joints rubbed, small tear in lower hinge of volume 1, one corner bumped, a few scratches in covers.

Howes M-750; J. W. Reps, Views and Viewmakers of Urban America (1984), 1973 and 2624 (Natchez and NYC views); Stokes, 5:1588, 1595-6.

blank upper fore-corner of first half-title torn away, very light occasional marginal spots in text, heavier spotting in margin and image of 23 plates, clean fold tear at outer edge of America map. Contemporary quarter sheep and marbled boards, spines gilt, joints rubbed, small tear in lower hinge of volume 1, one corner bumped, a few scratches in covers.
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First edition. An early use of lithography in a travel book, including several early views of America.

Montulé's work consists of epistolary accounts of a voyage from New York to the West Indies with stops in Jamaica and Santo Domingo, returning by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi River to the Ohio River and the Hudson Valley, along with his travels in Sicily and Egypt. His map of the United States, and his view of New York are considered the earliest map of the country and the earliest American city view in the medium of lithography. In the foreword he states (in translation): "I should not have published these letters without the aid of lithography. The easy execution of this process suggested to me the idea of passing along to my friends and to the public some of the sketches I have made in different countries. Several persons of some repute in the arts have assured me that a collection of views of America ... would not be without interest; that is what made me decide to have them printed ..."