A very fine copy, complete with all its plates, offering a complete panorama of Gavarni's illustrations to date. The work, usually marked by foxing, is here in impeccable condition, in a signed binding.
The set, entirely mounted on stubs, comprises:
1 – Les Enfants terribles. Les Lorettes. Les Actrices. Notices by Théophile Gautier and Laurent-Jan.
2 – Fourberies de femmes en matière de sentiment. Clichy. Paris le soir. Notices by Laurent-Jan, Auguste Lireux and Léon Gozlan.
3 – Le Carnaval à Paris. Paris le matin. Les Étudiants de Paris. Notices by Théophile Gautier, A. Barthet and A. de Soubiran.
4 – La Vie de jeune homme. Les Débardeurs. Notices by P.-J. Stahl.
The four volumes were published between 1846 and 1848, which explains why they are often found separately. The work is illustrated with a general frontispiece, 14 vignettes (one repeated) and 320 plates, the whole engraved on wood. Here the plates are in excellent condition, which is rare.
From the library of Auguste-P. Garnier (bookplate).
Complete with wrappers and spines, except for volume 2, where the spine is missing; some restoration to the wrappers and light rubbing to the spines.
Carteret, III, 260–264: “Ouvrage important, présentant une oeuvre originale dessinée à nouveau par l’artiste d’après ses lithographies ; l’ensemble donne bien une idée du talent de Gavarni et des moeurs de son temps. Cet ouvrage est fort rare en belle condition”; Brivois, 168–171; Vicaire, III, 953–955.