[HYÈRES] - DENIS, CANQUOIN and COURDOUAN. - Lot 39

[HYÈRES] - DENIS, CANQUOIN and COURDOUAN. A picturesque and statistical tour of the Var department... S. l., S. n. s. d. [Toulon, imp. et lith. Canquoin, (circa 1833). In-folio, (3 ff.) 60 pp. and 14 lithographs, brown half-chagrin, smooth spine (period binding). The 2 pp. prospectus at the beginning of the volume announces that each issue should include, from month to month, 3 plates and 8 to 12 pages of text. This project has undergone some modifications, as this first issue, the only one to appear, is much more complete. The beautifully crafted lithographs, 15 x 21 on average, sometimes larger, mostly depict views of the city. Binding rubbed, light foxing, not serious. Copy conforms to that owned by the town of Hyères. The website of the town of Hyères states: "The first issues are devoted to the town of which Alphonse Denis has been mayor since 1830. There would be no further issues, and hisPromenades pittoresquesse would be confined to Hyères, which he had discovered in 1824 and whose history he described in 60 pages, from its origins to the advent of the Third Republic. The work is quite extensive, covering chronology, traditions and legends, as well as archaeology, mineralogy, agriculture, horticulture, industry and economics. Although the first work to be devoted exclusively to Hyères, it was not followed up, but was reprinted twice until 1853, before undergoing a major and sometimes controversial overhaul under the editorship of Raoul Chassinat (1087-1891). Probably printed in 1833, the media library's copy of Les Promenades pittoresques... is complete and contains all the engravings by Toulon painter Vincent Courdouan (1810-1893), based on Alphonse Denis's drawings of "his" town.