Courvoisier Voisin Henri (1757 1830) et alia [Recueil de Vue

Sale 2701 - Lot 124

Price Realized: $ 1,375

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

Courvoisier-Voisin, Henri (1757-1830), et alia.
[Recueil de Vues de Paris et ses Environs.]

Paris: Chez Basset marchand d'estampes, [1814-1819?].

Folio; containing 100 finely engraved black-and-white plates by Dubois, Fortier, Aubert, and numerous others after drawings largely by Courvoisier, all depicting views of 19th-century Parisian landmarks, palaces, gardens, monuments, and events; bound in quarter morocco with a gilt-stamped red morocco label to front board, spine gilt-tooled (both boards detached, spine with some bio predation, losses to leather, preliminary blanks creased; sporadic marginal foxing, minor dampstain to gutter of last 20 or so leaves); 21 3/4 x 14 1/2 in.

This marvelous souvenir album preserving scenes from post-Napoleonic era Paris contains images of arguably the first roller coasters ever built as we know them today, Les Promenades Aeriennes and Les Montagnes de Belleville. Precursors to the modern roller coaster were conceived in St. Petersburg, Russia where carts were pushed down steep slopes of ice or snow. The two French thrill rides, however; were innovations equipped with wheeled cars securely locked to a track with guided rails to allow for speeds up to 40 miles per hour. Russian occupation in Paris from 1815 to 1816 is a likely explanation for the novel appearance of these structures, built by French banker Nicolas Beaujon for his amusement park in 1817. The illustration featured in the present lot shows the Promenades Aeriennes on the day of Louis XVIII's visit to the park on August 2nd, though whether the king partook in the amusement is unknown.

The album itself is quite scarce, with only one similar copy at the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris. Theirs contains 140 full-color plates, about 100 of Paris and the remaining illustrating scenes from other areas of France and St. Petersburg. The engravings were likely marketed singly by Basset to tourists. Individual views can be found on the market and in the collections of museums and libraries. The present lot is perhaps a deluxe edition for an English-speaking collector or institution, as the contemporary label on the front board that reads, "Views," and not "Vues."

From the La Farge Family collection.

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