BOURGOIN (Jules)

Arab arts. Architecture - Carpentry - Bronzes - Ceilings - Coverings - Marbles - Pavements - Stained glass - etc. Avec une table descriptive et explicative et le trait général de l'art arabe. Paris, Vve A. Morel, et Cie, 1873. Large in-folio red half-chagrin, spine ribbed and decorated (period binding). Large dark stain on spine, rubbed and worn. (2) ff. 3-[1]-4-[4]-VIII-28 pp. pp. 92 plates, 50 in color. foxing and light dampening. Ex-libris Unique edition of a monumental reference work compiling monument surveys carried out by the author, an architect by training, during his stay in Egypt, Syria and Palestine from 1863 to 1867. The work introduced Europeans to Arab ornamentation, and quickly became very popular, especially as it benefited from the new chromolithography technique, which enabled sumptuous color plates to be produced. Viollet-le-Duc summed up this important study as follows: "one of those collections of engravings that are pleasant to look through, and which adorn the libraries of architects and decorators, but which are hardly ever consulted", but "a practical and complete treatise which uncovers a whole new order of composition". Jules Bourgoin (1838-1908) was an architect and theorist of ornament. Sent to Alexandria to teach, he was captivated by the Orient, and during his stay collected the data he used to publish "Les arts arabes".