43 - HUGO (Abel). *Picturesque France, or a Picturesque, Topographical, and Statistical Description of the Departments and Colonies of France*.

HUGO (Abel). *Picturesque France, or a Picturesque, Topographical, and Statistical Description of the Departments and Colonies of France*. Paris, Delloye, 1835, 3 volumes, small in-4, 2ff.-VIpp.-1f.-320pp. - IVpp.-320pp. - IVpp.-320pp. - 470 plates. Fawn half-basane, smooth spines, brown title labels, romantic decorative band running the length of the spine, marbled edges. (Contemporary bindings). - Well-bound copy. Some foxing. One of the most famous and beautiful guidebooks of the Romantic era. It is illustrated with 3 maps and a plan of Paris—all fold-outs—and 466 inset plates engraved on steel by Masson, Bellura, Fortier, and others, some depicting two subjects. In all, 660 maps and views depicting cities, towns, ports, landscapes and sites, monuments, portraits, costumes, etc. Each department is described at length and in detail: its history, geography, customs, local languages and dialects, local biographies and bibliographies, economy and resources, castles, and more. Among the colonies is the recently conquered Algeria.