Paris, chez Desenne, Gattey, Guyot et à Chantilly chez M. Hédouin, 1791.
8vo [226 x 141 mm] of (2) ll., 1 folding map, 60 pp., 20 plates out of pagination. Full green morocco, large gilt border on the covers, decorated flat spine, pink paper doublures and endpapers, gilt edges. Contemporary Parisian binding.
First edition and first issue of the 21 beautiful engravings of views of the gardens and buildings of Chantilly, one of few copies on large vellum paper.
Brunet, IV, 899.
It is illustrated with a folding plan and 20 plates interpreted in the black manner of Mérigot and son.
“Nature and the arts seem to have contributed to Chantilly’s embellishment. There are very few places in France which gather so many objects of munificence and pleasure. The luxury and wealth of the buildings, the variety and beauty of the gardens, the abundance of waters, the brightness of the various points of views, the precious collections, rarities of many kinds… it is what encouraged us to offer a picture of it…”
“Few copies were printed on vellum paper for the first prints…” (Foreword).
Mercier wrote in 1781:“I still have not found anything comparable to Chantilly around the capital. Thirty journeys in this enchanting place have not worn my attention out. It is the most beautiful marriage that art and nature have made”.
“The work published by Mérigot is illustrated with 20 very finely engraved figures in aquatint. It is the matching piece to the ‘Promenade ou Itinéraire des Jardins d’Ermenonville’”. (Bulletin Morgand et Fatout, n°7744)
D’Argenville, in his Voyage pittoresque des environs de Paris, is not less enthusiastic: “Chantilly gathers everything nature and art can produce of pleasant to make one of the most beautiful places on earth.
A precious copy from the first issue, with particularly wide margins (226 mm high), printed on large vellum paper, preserved in its elegant contemporary green morocco binding decorated with musical attributes.
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