Spotlight

BIRMANN, Samuel (1793-1847). Souvenirs de la vallée de Chamonix. Folio (450x300 mm). IX pp., [26] ff. With 25 aquatints coloured by a contemporary hand and finely heightened in gum arabic and a folding lithographic panorama of the Bréven. Contemporary quarter long-grained red morocco (publisher's binding?), marbled boards, smooth spine ruled and lettered in gilt. First and last text leaves somewhat foxed. Basle, Birmann et fils, s.d. [1826].

A magnificent copy of the finest album of the Chamonix Valley. One of the copies on 'grand papier anglais, dit Whatman [watermarked 1825], figures color. avec soin' which was published at a price of 180 francs (cf. Brunet).

The volume includes a preface by the author, a table of views, followed by 26 plates each with a commentary on a separate leaf (two of which are illustrated with an explanatory sketch). At the end of the volume is a comparative table of altitudes, lithographed by Horace Brunet & Cie in Lyon. The views depict: the Cluse Gorge, the Arpénaz Waterfall, the surroundings of Sallenche, a Savoyard oven, a Savoyard dwelling, Mont Blanc seen from Sallenche, the Baths of Saint-Gervais, the Bonnant Waterfall, the Chède Waterfall, Lake Chède, Mont Blanc seen from Servoz, Berègères at the Oratory, the surroundings of Servoz, Aux Montées, the Bossons Glacier, Chamonix Church, Le Prieuré and Mont Blanc, the Mer de Glace seen from Montanvert, view taken from Le Jardin, source of the Arveyron, the Bois Glacier, at La Flégère, the Col de Balme seen from the Argentière valley, Argentière Church, the Chamonix valley seen from the Col de Balme, panorama of Le Bréven.

Samuel Birmann (Basel, 17931847) learnt drawing and watercolour painting in the studio of his father, Peter Birmann, himself a painter and engraver. In 1815, he travelled to Rome with the landscape painters Jakob Christoph Bischoff and Friedrich Salathé. In 1817, he travelled to Sicily, where he produced drawings in a fine Romantic style, which were reproduced in the Voyage pittoresque en Sicile published by Ostervald. On his return to Basel, he published numerous views of the Alps, in a style combining a romantic vision with precise detail, which were to bring success to the trading firm Birmann and Sons. Suffering from depression, he took his own life in 1847.

Provenance: 19th century engraved bookplate featuring the initials ‘AC’ within a crowned shield. - Heinrich Sarasin-Koechlin, 1886-1964 with his bookplate.

References: Brunet I, 954; Lonchamp 338; Perret 60.

PRICE: CHF 18 000