195 - DESPORTES (Jules).

DESPORTES (Jules). *Le Lithographe*, a journal for artists and printers, publishing all known lithographic processes, along with their various modifications, highlighting new discoveries in this art, and providing an impartial account of its works; edited by lithographers. Paris: At the journal’s office, Maison; Rotterdam: S. van Reyn Snoeck, 1838–1848. — 6 volumes in-8, black half-shagreen, smooth spine, untrimmed (modern binding). Complete collection of this rare monthly journal edited by the printer and lithographer Jules Desportes (1805–1875). Founded by Desportes himself, this journal was unique in that it was written entirely by professionals in the field, making it a veritable technical and artistic bible of its time. Its primary mission was to disseminate knowledge by publishing all lithographic processes known at the time, along with their successive modifications. It also kept readers abreast of innovation by highlighting recent discoveries, such as the rise of zincography and autography. The journal also sought to serve as a forum for criticism by offering contemporary reviews of printmaking works. Finally, for a time, it functioned as an official organ, serving as the newsletter of the Paris Chamber of Lithographic Printers. Publication was suspended in 1840, 1841, 1843, 1844, and 1847. Each year is illustrated with numerous plates, listed at the end of each volume: 14 for the first, 20 for the second, 14 for the third, 15 for the fourth, 11 for the fifth, and 5 for the last, for a total of 79 plates. Our copy contains 81 plates: while it is missing 3 plates in the final volume, it includes 5 additional plates—2 in Volume 3 and 3 in Volume 4. Among the added plates is an original portrait of a lithographer (Desportes?) in the third-year volume, on pages 42–43, drawn in graphite and unsigned. A note on the reverse specifies that this drawing comes from an incomplete copy of the journal. The second-year volume features the first three lithographic prints executed from Daguerre’s photographic plates, known as “Daguerreotype Lithographs.” Produced by the lithographer L. Marquier and printed at Desportes’ institute, these plates are considered the first published examples of lithographs from life copied from a photographic plate. This copy includes the publication prospectus for the journal, dated 1837; the prospectus for Chevallier and Langlumé’s *Complete Treatise on Lithography*; a subscription receipt signed by Desportes and addressed to Engelmann and Graff (1846); as well as an autograph receipt from Desportes, dated September 6, 1848, for the payment of 25 francs settling the purchase of “six fir wood frames and an inkwell from the furnishings of the lithographers’ studio.” - Included is a volume, bound identically to the other six, containing the *Bulletin iconographique des gravures, lithographies, cartes et plans* (Illustrated Catalog of Engravings, Lithographs, Maps, and Plans) offered for sale during the month of August 1845, which also appears at the end of the fifth-year volume. Some foxing and a few water stains.