Collection de vues de Saint-Pétersbourg et de ses environs, Dessinées d’après nature, par divers Artistes. Premier Cahier.
Title with index of the first part, dated 1823, general index listing the 25 views present in this volume, a map of the city dated 1822 and 6 lithographic views. [bound with:] Nouvelles vues de Saint-Pétersbourg Dessinées d’après nature, par divers Artistes. Second Cahier [– Quatrième Cahier]. A Saint-Pétersbourg, Au dépôt lithographique, chez Alexandre Pluchart, Imprimeur-Libraire, Editeur. M. DCCC.XXII [1822]. Separate index title and 6 views. [bound with:] Nouvelles vues de Saint-Pétersbourg Dessinées d’après nature, par divers Artistes. Troisième Cahier. A Saint-Pétersbourg, Au dépôt lithographique, chez Alexandre Pluchart, Imprimeur-Libraire, Editeur. M. DCCC.XXII [1822]. Separate index title and 6 views. [bound with:] Nouvelles vues de Saint-Pétersbourg Dessinées d’après nature, par divers Artistes. Quatrième Cahier. A Saint-Pétersbourg, Au dépôt lithographique, chez Alexandre Pluchart, Imprimeur-Libraire, Editeur. M. DCCC.XXII [1822]. Separate index title and 6 views. With an additional view present in the general index representing the Senate square with the monument to Peter the Great erected by Catherine II of Russia. Oblong folio measuring 300 mm x 450 mm. Four parts in one volume. In all, 4 titles with the index of each part, a general index, a map of the city and 25 plates, all engraved in lithograph. Presentation binding in quarter red Morocco and orange paper with gilt border decoration and the dedication inscription gilt on front cover: “A sua eminenza RMA Il Sig.r Cardinal Consalvi Seg.0 di Stato di S. S. Papa Pio VII” [To His Roman Eminence, Cardinal Consalvi, the Cardinal Secretary of State of Pope Pius VII]. A few vertical creases to the binding. Some light foxing to the titlepages, occasional minor soiling to the margins of a few plates, one skillfully restored tear with no missing surface to Plate 2 of Volume 3. Generally, very fresh and excellent imprints of these early lithographic views. A complete album with a map of the city and 25 lithographic views of Saint-Petersburg, among the earliest printed in Russia, illustrating the foremost palaces, monuments, military and governmental buildings and fortress, theatres, churches, convent, science academy, garden, hospital, and more. Alexander Ivanovich Pluchart (1777-1827), born in Valenciennes, France, moved to Germany after the French revolution where he worked for the French royalist publisher Pierre François Fauche in Brunswick. In 1806, he came to Saint-Petersburg on the invitation to head the French-language Journal du Nord. Essentially a semi-official organ of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the magazine acted as a counterpoint to Napoleonic propaganda. Pluchart came to occupy several important administrative positions in Russia, but also continued his publishing practice, founding a printing house in 1808 and one of the earliest Russian lithographic firms in 1818, which published these lithographs. According to Tevyashov, Pluchart issued at least five editions of these lithographic views, all uncommon: in 1821-1822 in three issues and on 24 leaves (1), in 1823 on 25 leaves (2), in 1824 on 36 leaves (3), in 1826 on 42 leaves (4), and in 1827 on 46 leaves (5) [Tevyashov, p. 9]. There is an earlier edition of this album at Harvard, making this a second edition, though this 1823 edition does include four lithographs (nos. 19-22) not present in the first edition, but present here. This copy comes in a presentation binding for Ercole Consalvi (1757—1824), who served twice as the Cardinal Secretary of State for the Papal States. Conslavi vehemently opposed Napoleon, and in 1809, when the French occupied Rome, was forcefully taken to Paris. There, Napoleon personally tried to convince him to support his cause, but Conslavi remained steadfast in his refusal. When Conslavi refused, he was stripped of his property and ecclesiastical status and became one of the “black cardinals.” He was forced to reside in France until the defeat of Napoleon. * Vladimir A. Somov, “La Russie dans la presse des émigrés: Altona, Hambourg, Brunswick et Saint-Pétersbourg, Conservatoire national de Saint-Pétersbourg,” Вивлioѳика: E-Journal of Eighteenth-Century Russian Studies 4 (2016): 160-190; Evgeniy N. Tevyashov, Opisanie neskolkih gravyur i litografiy [Описание нескольких гравюр и литографий], Saint-Petersburg, 1903, pp. 4-6. https://edu.hermitage.ru/catalogs/1433297649/themes/1433297660/article/1433297670. .
Price: $19,500.00