59 - CHARAVAY (Étienne). Autograph Letters from the Collection of Mr. Alfred Bovet.

CHARAVAY (Étienne). Autograph Letters from the Collection of Mr. Alfred Bovet. Described by Étienne Charavay. Edited by Fernand Calmettes. Paris, “Les Neuf Muses,” Librairie de l'Abbaye, 1952. (Reprint of the 1887 edition). Large quarto, publisher’s burgundy full cloth binding. A faithful reprint of one of the most important catalogs of autograph collections ever published in France. Compiled by the Swiss bibliophile Alfred Bovet and described by the renowned expert Étienne Charavay, this remarkable collection of letters and manuscripts brings together several hundred figures who have left their mark on the political, scientific, artistic, and literary history of Europe. The volume reproduces and describes a vast number of autograph letters from sovereigns, statesmen, scholars, writers, painters, engravers, explorers, and musicians. The illustrated pages feature, among others, the signatures of such prestigious figures as Peter the Great, Catherine II, Alexander I, Nicholas I, Jussieu, Berthollet, Jenner, Granet, Guérin, Mayer, Baudelaire, Fromentin, and Méurice. Each entry is accompanied by a biographical sketch and selected excerpts from the reproduced documents. Thanks to the breadth of its collection and the quality of its illustrations, this volume serves both as a reference work on the history of autographs and as a valuable record of the major private collections of the late 19th century.