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Collection complète des tableaux historiques de la Révolution française

Illustrated by: Alexandre Evariste Fragonard (French, 1780–1850)
Illustrated by: Jean Duplessi-Bertaux (French, 1750–1818)
Illustrated by: Jacques-François Swebach (French, 1769–1823)
Illustrated by: Abraham Girardet (French, 1764–1823)
Illustrated by: Jean-Louis Prieur (French, 1759–1795)
Illustrated by: Nicholas Marie Ozanne (French, 1728–1811)
Engraved by: Pierre-Gabriel Berthault (French, 1737–1831)
Engraved by: Claude-Nicolas Malapeau (French, 1755–1804)
Engraved by: Jacques Louis Copia (French, 1764–1799)
Engraved by: Jean Duplessi-Bertaux (French, 1750–1818)
Engraved by: Charles François Gabriel Levachez (French, active 1760–1820)
Engraved by: Jean Baptiste Michel Dupréel (French, active 1787–1817)
Engraved by: Yves-Marie Le Gouaz (French, 1742–1816)
Engraved by: Jacques-Joseph Coiny (French, 1761–1809)
Engraved by: Pierre-Philippe Choffard (French, 1730–1809)
Publisher: Auber (French, active early 19th century)
Printer: Pierre Didot (French, 1761–1853)
1802
Place of Publication: Paris, France

Medium/Technique Illustrated book with 217 etching and engravings
Dimensions Overall (each vol., depth variable): 47.7 x 32 x 5.7 cm (18 3/4 x 12 5/8 x 2 1/4 in.)
Credit Line William A. Sargent Collection—Bequest of William A. Sargent
Accession Number37.2413a-c
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsIllustrated books
Paris: Pierre Didot l'aîné, for Auber, 1802

Catalogue Raisonné Cohen-de Ricci 969-71; Maurice Tourneux, Bibliographie de l'histoire de Paris pendant la Révolution française (Paris: 1890), v. 1, no. 282
Description(Paris: Pierre Didot l'aîné, for Auber, 1802) Folio, three vols.; [v. 1] [2 ll.] 356 pp., plus 90 plates; [v. 2] [1 l.] 266 pp., plus 66 pls.; [v. 3] [1 l.] 112 pp., plus 61 pls.; contemporary gilt-stamped brown calf.

Historical illustrations; allegorical designs; portraits.

The bibliography for this title is quite complex, having been pubished in parts through the course of the French Revolution, from 1791. This edition of 1802 is described in Cohen-de Ricci (col. 971) and agrees with this copy [C-de R did not count the engraved plate immediately after the "Assignats" plate (vol. 2, no. 123)]. The majority of the historical depictions are engraved by Berthault, Dupréel, and Malapeau after designs by Duplessi-Bertaux, Prieur, Swebach, and Girardet; the frontispieces are after Fragonard; the portraits are virtually all engraved by Levachez and Duplessi-Bertaux. The portraits are mostly lavis-manner engravings, though several resemble a mezzotint process--they do not seem to be aquatints.

The basic makeup of this copy is as follows:

Vol. I: half-title, engraved frontispiece, title page, pp. i-vi (Introduction), 1-36 (Premier discours préliminaire), and 1-320 ("Premier[-quatre-vingtième] tableau), plus 89 plates interspersed.

Vol. II: half title, engraved frontispiece, pp. 325-580 (Quatre-vingt-unième[-Cent quarante-quatrième] tableau), plus 65 plates interspersed.

Vol. III: half title, engraved frontispiece, followed by sections of text of constitutional documents interspersed with medallion portraits over historical vignettes and engraved captions.

See "Bibliography" for further references.

The MFA Library owns another copy of this title: **145.35.298

Notable "tableaux" include the Oath of the Tennis Court (v. 1, pl. 1), Taking of the Bastille (v. 1, pl. 16), Assassination of Marat (v. 2, pl. 83), Display of Assignats (v. 2, pl. 123), Portrait of Napoleon (v. 3, following text of "Constitution de l'an 8").
ProvenanceDukes of Bridgewater (armorial bookplate "Ashridge MDCCCLXVII" and crest on binding); unidentified monogram bookplate "Alford House" [vol. 3 only]; acquired [from Lauriat's, Boston?] in 1924 by William A. Sargent, Boston (1858-1936), by whom bequeathed to MFA, November 17, 1937.