| Jean Francois Albanis de Beaumont — Travels through the Rhaetian Alps in the year MDCCLXXXVI from Italy to Germany, through Tyrol |
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Travels through the Rhaetian Alps in the year MDCCLXXXVI from Italy to Germany, through Tyrol |
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London: for the author by C. Clarke, sold by T. and J. Egerton, 1792., 1792. Folio (20 4/8 x 13 6/8 inches). Engraved map, 10 aquatint plates by C. Apostool after Hans Heinrich Meyer and Albanis de Beaumont (some occasional light age toning to margins). Early 20th-century half morocco gilt (rebacked to style). Provenance: with the small library label of Wolfgang Herz on the front paste-down, his sale 9th December 2009, lot 53. First edition, large-paper copy, in the second uncolored state with sepia aquatints. Beaumont " was working as a hydraulic engineer at Nice, where he met the duke of Gloucester. In 1780 the duke engaged him as a teacher of mathematics and fortifications to his children; Beaumont then accompanied the duke on his travels in the Alps. Beaumont himself made several crossings of the region, and on one occasion travelled westwards along the Mediterranean coast into French territory. A few years later he travelled through the maritime Alps from Cuneo in Italy to Nice by the newly constructed road across the pass of Lanslebourg. In the 1790s he went through the Lepontine Alps, from Lyons to Turin. Beaumont's accounts of these journeys show a lively interest in the classical history of the area. He comments on benefits he has received from the works of other scientists active in the region, such as de Saussure, de Luc, and Pictet; he also remarks on the structural geology and mineralogy of the alpine regions and reports altitudes measured with his barometer. Published in large format, these accounts are embellished with maps drawn by himself (which he signed 'A. Beaumont, engineer') and by drawings in simple and sepia-washed versions, the latter coloured by Bernard Lory the elder" (Timothy Clayton and Anita McConnell for DNB). Two of the plates are after Hans Heinrich Meyer (1760-1832), Goethe's friend and advisor who taught at the Weimar School of Art. Abbey Travel 50; Pine-Coffin 7861. |
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