• Pictorial album 55.5 x 41.0 cm, publisher’s quarter sheepskin over cloth, upper cover and flat spine lettered in gilt. Title: MONUMENTS et RUES de PARIS | Dessinés et lithographiés par William Wyld, | et publiés par Rittner & Goupil, 15 Boulevard Montmartre, | et Susse Frères, Place de la Bourse. | 1839. Collation: Title plate + 20 plates numbered from 1 to 20, printed by Godefroy Engelmann (French, 1788 – 1839) in tone lithography after drawings by William Wyld (British, 1806 – 1889). Published in Paris by Rittner & Goupil and Susse Frères in 1839. Plates: 54.8 x 39.8 cm. Contents:

    Title page: Tombeau d'Heloïse et d'Abélard

    1. Le Pont Neuf
    2. L'église de la Madeleine
    3. La Porte St. Martin
    4. Palais des Tuileries
    5. Pont des Saints-Pères
    6. Hôtel de Ville
    7. Marché des Innocents
    8. Palais Royal
    9. Boulevard des Italiens
    10. Rue de la Paix
    11. Bourse et Tribunal de Commerce
    12. Porte St. Denis
    13. Pont Royal
    14. Place de la Concorde
    15. Paris from Père Lachaise
    16. Notre-Dame
    17. Jardin des Tuileries with Arc de Triomphe in the Distance
    18. Panthéon
    19. Chambre des députés
    20. Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile
    Description of Shapero Rare Books, London: A very rare pictorial record of Paris before the French capital was drastically remodelled by Haussmann during Napoleon III’s Second Empire. William Wyld (1806-1889), an English painter and lithographer, set up his studio in Paris in 1834, becoming friends with the French painters Ary Scheffer and Paul Delaroche. His first subjects were fashionable orientalist scenes, however, he soon turned to classical architectural, winning a gold medal at the Paris Salon for his two-meter wide canvas ‘Venice at Sunrise’ in the same year in which he published Monuments et rues de Paris. This series is a compilation of twenty fine views of Paris, showing both architectural features, street scenes and views over the river Seine, as well as a panorama of the city from the cemetery of Père Lachaise. Some of the views, such as the representations of the Palais des Tuileries, the Marché des Innocents or the Pont des Sts Pères, testify to the beauty of these structures that no longer exist.
  • Owner's convolute binding of the period in quarter tan cloth, yellow marbled boards, no title page, no pagination. Contents: (1) Venetian Album –12 lithographs by Émile-Aubert Lessore (French, 1805 – 1876) after William Wyld (British, 1806 – 1889). — Venice: Charles Hopfner, [1834]. Printed at Premiata Litografia Veneta under the direction of  Ferdinand Wolfgang Flachenecker (German, 1782 – 1847). Inscription: Premiata Litografia Veneta, dirigée par C. Flachenecker.
    1. L'Église de St. Marc
    2. La place St. Marc
    3. Le palais Ducal
    4. Le Môle
    5. L'Arsenal
    6. La Riva dei Schiavoni
    7. Le Grand Canal, (1re vue)
    8. Le Grand Canal (2me vue)
    9. Le Grand Canal (3me vue)
    10. Le Grand Canal (4me vue)
    11. Le Grand Canal (5me vue)
    12. Le Grand Canal (6me vue)
    (2) Veduta della casa di Loreto – 5 etchings by Filippo Jaffei, – Loreto: Jaffei, 1828.
    1. Title: Spiegazione / delli quattro prospetti dei bassi rilievi in marmo che circondano le mura della S. Casa di Loreto / qui annessi in puntata, oltre l'altro prospetto del palazzo pontificio / facciata del tempio, campanile, e cuppola etc.
    2. Prospetto della Basilica, e Piazza Lauretana, ed annesso Palazzo Apostolico / V. Jaffei incise.
    3. Settentrione. Prospetto laterale de Bassirilievi in Marmo, che circondano le Mura di S. Casa di Loreto. Jaffei incise Loreto.
    4. Oriente. Prospetto de Bassirilievi in Marmo, che circ=ondano le Mura di S. Casa.  Jaffei incise Loreto l'Anno 1828.
    5. Mezzo Giorno. Prospetto laterale de Bassirilievi in Marmo, che circondano le Mura di S. Casa di Loreto. Jaffei dis. ed inc. in Loreto.
    6. Occidente. Prospetto de Bassirilievi in Marmo, che circ=ondano le Mura di S. Casa. Jaffei dis. ed inc. in Loreto l'Anno 1828.
    (3) Line engraving signed F. Ferrat (...). (4) View of Cloaca Maxima in Rome etched by Tommaso Cuccioni (Italian, 1790 – 1864), negoziante. Possibly from the album Num. cento vedute di Roma e sue vicinanze. Presso Tommaso Cuccioni, negoziante di stampe in Roma, Via della Croce n. 25. Inscription: Cloaca Maxima. Si vende in Roma da Tommaso Cuccioni Neg.e di Stampe Via della Croce № 25.
  • Quaritch's description: Single sheet (435 x 625 mm); coloured lithograph by Kirchmayr after a drawing by M. Fontana; hand-painted details; signed to lower left ‘M. Fon[tana]’ and to lower right ‘M. Fontana Edit. Prop. S. Giacomo dall’Orio in Isola N°.1481’; lower margin with the title ‘Il bombardamento di Venezia nell’Agosto 1849’ and key; restored tears in many places, especially along upper and lower blank margins, some affecting print; losses to lower left corner, affecting a small portion of the print, ruled border, and key, restored and re-drawn where needed; loss to the upper left corner of blank margin; two small areas of restoration to the centre of upper blank margin; the whole sheet backed; nevertheless a remarkable survival. Exceedingly rare and striking lithograph of Venice as seen from Fusina, depicting the first ever aerial bombardment in history. The bombardment took place in 1849, under the orders of Field Marshal Josef Radetzky (1766–1858), to quell the revolts that had started the previous year during the First Italian War of Independence. This curious and little-known action was the brainchild of Colonel Benno Uchatius, a brilliant young officer in the Austro-Hungarian Artillery. After long months of unsuccessful siege, Uchatius decided to deploy an unusual weapon: a hot air balloon able to bomb the city from above. Having calculated the wind speed and direction and evaluated the requisite dimensions of the hot-air balloon, Uchatius set up a workshop near Mestre, where a group of engineers and craftsmen began to manufacture a balloon equipped with a large wicker basket which could transport two crewmen and approximately one hundred kilograms of small long-fuse devices (metal spheres filled with gunpowder, pitch, oil and five hundred rifle buckshot). The initial trials, however, proved to be a disaster, because the balloon would drift off course, making it impossible to accurately deploy the bombs. Uchatius then hit upon the idea of using several smaller unmanned balloons roped together. These were to be launched over the city and, using the position of the first ‘pilot’ balloon, which was unarmed, the Austrians could calculate the correct fuse settings for the bombs. The ‘bomber’ balloons had a cloth envelope of one hundred cubic metres and a reduced load of about twenty kilograms of ordnance. According to Uchatius’ calculations, the line of balloons, launched from Mestre, would reach the lagoon city in thirty-five to forty minutes, carried by the north-west wind. In July 1849, a first launch was attempted, but when a breeze began to blow from the sea some of the balloons broke the connecting ropes and floated away, while others settled in the water in front of the northern part of the city, where a curious crowd of Venetians observed the failure of the enterprise and commented colourfully on the ‘buffoonery of Radetzky’. Uchatius’ second attempt, which is depicted in this lithograph, was also largely unsuccessful: only a few of the unmanned bomber balloons reached their target, and some even drifted back over the Austrian lines. Uchatius, having accomplished the first ever aerial bombardment, and having designed the first ever military ‘drones’, was forced to abandon the project permanently. Another fascinating aspect of this work is the vantage point used to depict the city of Venice, seen here from Fusina, a very rare viewpoint that makes this piece even more remarkable. We were unable to locate any copies in any institution or bibliography. G. Kirchmayr (fl. mid-19th century) is mentioned at British Museum database as "Lithographer active in Venice; related to Venetian painter Cherubino Kirchmayr (b. 1848)?" However, I was not able to find that name on the print. Not much is known of M. Fontana either.  
  • Sheet № 20 from the series of 42 сhromolithography prints 'Skizzen und Bilder aus ROM und der Umgegend' (Sketches and pictures from Rome and surroundings).

    Inscriptions:

    Top left: LINDEMANN-FROMMEL’S Top right: Skizzen und Bilder aus ROM und der Umgegend. Centre below: No 20 | IL CASTEL E IL PONTE SANT ANGELO, | E SAN PIETRO. Bottom left: Imp. de JACOMME et Cie. R. de Lancry, 16 Paris. Bottom centre: Stuttgart, bei FRANZ KÖHLER. Bottom right: Paris, Goupil et Cie. Editeurs.

    Dimensions:

    Plate: 372 x 473 mm Sheet: 372 x 473 mm

    Contributors:

    Lindemann-Frommel, Karl (French-German, 1819 – 1891) – artist. Jacomme, Claude (French, fl. 1838 – 1857) – printer/lithographer. Goupil et Cie (Paris); Goupil, Adophe (French, 1806 – 1893) – publisher Franz Köhler (Stuttgart); Köhler, Franz (German, 1805 – 1872) – publisher.