52        [ZURLAUBEN, Beat Fidel Anton (1720-1799) & Jean-Benjamin de LABORDE (1734-1794)]. Tableaux topographiques, pittoresques, phisiques, historiques, moraux, politiques, littéraires, de la Suisse. Tableaux de la Suisse, ou voyage pittoresque fait dans les treize cantons et états alliés du corps helvétique. Ouvrage exécuté aux fraix & par les soins de M.de Laborde, dessinées par MM. Pérignon, Le Barbier, &c. & gravées par MM. Née & Masquelier, &c. Five parts in four volumesfolio (511x345 mm). With engraved title, frontispiece, 227 plates of views, 7 maps & plans, 11 plates of portraits & 6 plates of medals, vases, etc. Uniformly bound in contemporary brown motteled calf, back on raised bands, gilt in compartments, lettered green morocco labels in second and third, covers gilt with ruled border, marbled endpapers, yellow polished edges, green silk markers. Somewhat foxed at places. Paris, J.-G. Clousier & P.-M. Lamy, 1780-1788.                

"One of the most comprehensive, beautiful and desirable illustrated books on Switzerland ever produced" (Wolf & Korey).

The publisher, Jean-Benjamin de Laborde, the wealthy fermier général, musician, and courtier of Louis XV, conceived of the idea of a set of Swiss views (with accompanying text) during a tour of the country, and subsequently engaged the services of the recently retired Swiss general Baron von Zurlauben of Zug. The general would provide the text, while a team of artists which included Jean Jacques François Le Barbier and Alexis Nicolas Perignon were assigned the task of illustrating the exhaustive work. They were joined by the engravers Masquelier, Neé, Alix, Niquet, Longueil, and others. The resulting volumes contain a stunning selection of engravings, depicting every facet of the country – its history, scenery, topography, geology, its major towns, cities, and villages, art, culture, and architecture, to name but a few. Included too, are portraits of famous artists and figures from Swiss history and science. This set also contains the often discarded fifth index volume by François Antoine Quétant.

References: Brunet V, 1546; Lonchamp 3362; Haller I, 235; Lewine 581; Cohen/de Ricci 1075; Hoefer VI, 684; Wolf & Korey, Quarter of a Millennium: The library company of Philadelphia 1731-1981. A Selection of Book, n° 79

Price: CHF 28000