SAMS, William

A Tour Through Paris, illustrated with Twenty-one Coloured Plates, accompanied with descriptive letter-press

London: William Sams, [no date, but plates watermarked 1824-1825]. Small folio. (14 x 9 5/8 inches). Title plus 21 hand-coloured aquatint plates after V.Auger and others, 41 unnumbered pages of text with 2 pages text for each plate (except Street Characters which only has 1).

Three-quarter red morocco and textured cloth by Zaehnsdorf, spine gilt in 6 compartments, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.

The preferred edition, with 21 rather than 17 plates. The fine views have a wealth of detail and a delicacy of shading not often found in aquatints of this period. Another unusual feature is that each plate represents a very specific moment in time, a snapshot of Parisian life, and that each is accompanied by full explanatory text.

Published by William Sams, a relatively unknown printer-bookseller, these plates playfully showcase everyday subjects and Parisian life. The text gives both the historical background to the scene, an explanation of the specific moment and occasionally what will happen to the participants in the future. The 17th plate for example captures the moment when the noon day cannon fires at the Meridian of the Palais Royal: a newspaper vendor proudly shows a companion how accurate his watch is, a second gentleman drops his watch in panic (the watch still in mid-air), in the fore-ground a pretty young girl pretends to check her watch, having just become aware of the admiring glances of the unknown but handsome man (a "young sprig of fashion") standing just behind her, "he is going to speak to her; she will not depart alone. The critical moment is approaching. We know the ordinary consequences of a rencontre at the Palais Royal; there are those instances of good fortune of which heroes have not always the opportunity of boasting." Each vibrant snapshot is supported with amusing text such as this. Coloured plates in order: 1. Frontispiece. Distribution of Wine on the Morning of St. Louis. 2. The Voitures of Versailles. 3. The Blind Man of the Bridge of Arts. 4. Dancers on Silts in the Champs-Elysees. 5. Office of Nurses. 6. Porters and Fisherwomen, reveling round the statue of Henry IV. 7. Interior of a Swimming School. 8. Parisians reading the Public Prints in the Garden of the Tuileries. 9. The Catacombs. 10. The Chamber of Deputies. 11. Parisian Street Characters. 12. Itinerants on the Boulevards. 13. Military Deregulation in the Place Vendome. 14. The Juggler of the Chateau d'Eau. 15. La Morgue. 16. The Flower Market. 17. The Meridian of the Palais Royal. 18. The Charcoal Porters. 19. Procession of the Fete-Dieu, Parish Saint Germain L'Auxerrois. 20. A Corps de Garde of the Garde Nationale. 21. Promenade of Her Serene Highness the Duchess of Berri & the Younger Branches of the Royal Family of France, on the Terrace de l'Eau, at the Palace of the Tuileries.

Cf. Abbey Travel I, 113 &114; Colas 2898; Tooley 443; Lipperheide 1187.

Item #41131

Price: $3,750.00