(Pâris, Pierre-Adrien)    (WEISS, Ch.)   CATALOGUE DE LA BIBLIOTHEQUE DE M. PARIS.   Architect Et Dessinateur De La Chambre Du Roi, Chevalier De Son Ordre; Suivi De La Description De Son Cabinet.     Besançon,   1821.          A very scarce catalogue describing the book and drawing collection of this talented French architect, Pierre-Adrien Pâris, who took up the design of jardins a l'anglaise during the interruption of the French Revolution. His background for garden design was strong, for he produced numerous drawings of the villas around Rome during his early years there as a student. Contemporary observations on his garden creations, however, are very scarce. Among his known designs only that of the Château de Courteilles (Eure) has been well preserved. For this reason the catalogue of his books and drawings is particularly important in shedding light on Pâris's interests and the influences upon him. The text of the catalogue is preceded by a lengthy (approximately 40 pages) biography of Pâris and, at the conclusion, there is a description and catalogue of his cabinet of natural history and antiquities. In the library catalogue itself are substantial sections on Arts et Metiers, Architecture, and Antiquities. Drawings by different artists, such as Hubert Robert, classic French and Italian (also some English) works of architecture and garden design are all there, often with annotations by the bibliographer. Most importantly the bibliography cites Pâris's "Etudes d'Architecture, "nine volumes of drawings of Roman and Italian sites, antiquities, churches and public edifices, palaces and gardens, theatre compositions and amusements (for example a drawing of the salle de bal in the gardens at Marly on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin) and an additional collection of drawings, including his own, for illuminations in the gardens of Versailles. All of these are listed. From all of this and from the collection of antiquities in his cabinet we can see a source for Pâris's "taste for historicism and the exotic" (MACMILLAN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARCHITECTURE p. 365) which manifested itself in his own work, and later in the work of his students, such as Percier and Fontaine. The collection was deposited in the library at Besançon, Pâris's place of birth, where in 2008-9 the musée presented an exhibition of his Cabinet. OCLC locates only copies at Harvard, Princeton, the Grolier Club, and three copies in France.   8vo (21 x 13.2 cm); vii + (I)+ 256 pp. + 1 unnumbered folding plate + 6 numbered engraved plates.            Original paper covers, with backing in marbled paper partially perished, corners curled, but sewing firm; some pencil notations in the text, minor scattered foxing, heaviest on plates. $900.00

CLICK To Return To Recent Arrivals List     /    HOME