ID 479278
Lot 168 | TURGOT, Michel-Étienne (1690-1751) and Louis BRETEZ (1685-17...
Valeur estimée
$ 8 000 – 12 000
One of the world’s most extraordinary feats of cartography. In addition to its huge decorative appeal, Turgot’s celebrated plan of Paris is important for providing a remarkably detailed snapshot of the pre-Haussmann city. Alongside the city’s great churches, public buildings, and monuments, Turgot’s plan gives fascinating inklings of the daily life of the 18th-century metropolis: a flotilla of small working boats crowds the Seine and windmills dot the surprisingly rural landscape that surrounds the compact built-up area, a landscape soon to disappear under later 18th- and 19th-century expansion. A staggering technical achievement of representation and perspective, conceived nearly half a century before the first manned balloon flight. Berlin Kat. 2506; Millard French 39.
Folio (623 x 469mm). Folding double-page index map and very large perspective plan on 20 numbered sheets, all mounted on stubs, by Claude Lucas after Louis Bretez; sheets 18 and 19 joined and folded with title in elaborate figural cartouche, decorative engraved border with fleur-de-lys cornerpieces (joint to sheets 18 and 19 separating; large corner dampstains on sheets 19 and 20 and rear endleaves, diminishing on sheet 18 and faint on sheet 17, absent thereafter; occasional light spotting and toning, mostly on margins). Contemporary French red morocco, gilt spine, turn-ins and edges, brown morocco titling piece, covers enclosing arms of Paris (extremities rubbed).
| Adresse de l'enchère |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London Royaume-Uni | |
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| Aperçu |
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| Téléphone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |
| Commission | see on Website | |
| Conditions d'utilisation | Conditions d'utilisation |






