Lot 80: BOURGEOIS, Constant (1767-1841) and Claude THINON (1772-1846, artists). A album of views of French chƒteaux and monuments. [Paris: plates dated 1818-1820].

2o (436 x 296mm). 86 hand-coloured lithographic plates by and after Bourgeois [83] and Thi‚non [3], printed by C. de Lasteyrie [20] and F. Delpech [66], some heightened with gum arabic. (Scattered light spotting, a few plates cropped at the foot, not affecting image.) Contemporary French straight-grained blue morocco by Ren‚ Simier, the covers with borders formed of gilt and blind rolls, centrally-placed gilt arms of the duchesse de Berry [Olivier 2554, fer 2], board edges gilt, turn-ins roll-tooled in gilt, the spine gilt in compartments, lettered in one, the others decorated in gilt and blind (spine slightly faded, lightly rubbed, upper cover scuffed at head with minor losses), gilt edges. Provenance : Marie-Caroline-Ferdinande-Louise de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de Berry (1798-1870, gilt arms on binding; BibliothŠque de Rosny armorial bookplate on lower pastedown). A FINE COLLECTION OF VIEWS BY BOURGEOIS IN A SIMIER BINDING FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE DUCHESSE DE BERRY. Bourgeois, a pupil of David, produced a number of suites of lithographic views, including Recueil de vues et fabriques pittoresques d'Italie (Paris: the author, [c.1810]), Receuil de vues pittoresques de la France (Paris: Delpech, 1818-1819), and Voyage pittoresque … la Grande-Chartreuse, suivi de quelques vues prises dans les environs de ce monastŠre (Paris: Delpech, 1821), and the plates in the present album appear to have been drawn from these last two works. The duchesse de Berry was not only a noted bibliophile, but also an enthusiastic patron of the arts, with a strong interest in the work of contemporaries such as Ambroise-Louis Garneray who depicted views of contemporary life. Her library contained such finely-illustrated travel books such as Achille tienne Gigault de la Salle's Voyage pittoresque en Sicile (Paris, 1822-[26], her dedication copy, the Botfield copy, Christie's London, 30 March 1994, lot 64) and an album of 125 engraved plates from Jacques Rigaud's Receuil choisi de plus belles vues des palais, chateaux et maisons royales de Paris et des environs (Paris: circa 1730-1752, Christie's London, 9 December 1983, lot 138), and the present album of views is very typical of her interest in and taste for the topographical print.