A Voyage in the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara & the Dardanelles by H. Durand-Brager Marine painter, officially attached to the squadron of the Vice Amiral Hamelin and commissioned to take the drawings and Plans of the Russian establishments on the Coast of the black sea, in the Expedition of the Cacique and the Sampson.
Year: c. 1855
Edition: First edition
Publisher: London; E. Gambart & Co, P.&D. Colnaghi
Category: The Levant
Jointly published with Goupil & Ce., Paris, New York, Berlin. Folio, 545 x 377 mm, morocco over cloth, the edges of the leather along the spine and the corners gilt tooled. The spine tooled in gilt and blind and with in gilt the title along the spine, reading: "voyage dans la mer noire &c par durand - brager".
The front board evenly sunned, the back board still partly showing the original colour, the extremities rubbed. Seven tinted lithographs only (of 24), bound together with the original lithographed blue wrappers. The lithographed wrappers with the title both in English and French and with the index of all 24 plates on the inside.
No plates have been removed, so the person who had these plates bound probably only had been able to acquire these seven plates. The plates with some foxing. The size of the lithographs themselves, without the captions, on average about 300 x 410 mm.
The captions of the seven plates read:
Sulina [Sabatier]These plates have been lithographed either by L. Sabatier or by Eug. Ciceri and Ph. Benoist as indicated in the square brackets behind the title of each plate here above.
Sinope [Ciceri & Benoist]
Sebastopol [Sabatier]
Platana [Ciceri & Benoist]
Odessa [Ciceri & Benoist]
Redout-Kaleh [Ciceri & Benoist]
Anafa [sabatier]
In addition to the captions there is a one line description in the French language on the left of the captions and in English on the right side.
The text on the bottom left reads: "Dessiné par Durand-Brager, Peintre de Marine, attaché à l'escadre française" and further below: "Coupil & Ce. _ Paris, Berlin, New-York."
In the middle it reads: "Imp. Lemercier, Paris" with right below that text the blind stamp of Coupil & Ce.
On the right side the name of the lithographer is mentioned with there below the name of the publisher: "E. Gambart & Co. _ P.&D. Colnaghi _ London."
Durand-Brager joined the Anglo French fleet that besieged Sebastopol in 1854. After his return these plates were published. Apparently this work was published as a suite of plates as of the few copies that appeared on the market not one had a title page. In some cases the wrappers were used for that purpose.
Atabey 383, Blackmer 520.
Click on a picture to enlarge.
