FORBIN Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste Voyage dans le Levant (en 1817 et 1818).

Colas, 1089; Blackmer, 614 ; Weber, 70 ; Atabey, 447; Koç collection, 209; Quérard, III, 160.

First edition of this lavishly produced book, printed in a limited edition of 325 copies only. A magnificent copy bound for Louise d’Orléans.

"On n'a tiré que 325 exemplaires de ce magnifique ouvrage (Quérard).

"This impressive work is a very early example of the use of lithography in France for illustrated books." (Atabey).

“Forbin's was one of the first important French books to use lithography on a grand scale, and the standard of production is equal to that of Napoléon's 'Description de l'Egypte' or Denon's 'Voyage”(Navari, Blackmer).

"One of the first French illustrated books to make extensive use of lithography. The work was translated into English (in Sir Richard Phillip's series Voyages and travels…), and German. Forbin was a painter and antiquary who succeeded Dominique Vivant Denon as curator of the Louvre and other museums in 1816. In August 1817 he sailed from Toulon in the Cléopâtre on a year-long expedition to the Levant to buy antiquities; the party did visit Constantinople (the book contains two views, after Castellan), but the plague prevented Forbin from venturing much outside the ambassador's residence" (Koç).

His journey took him to Melos, Athens, Constantinople, Smyrna, Ephesus, Acre, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Cairo, Luxor, and Thebes. Richly illustrated, the magnificent, highly desirable plates (after Carle Vernet, Fragonard, Isabey, and Forbin himself, as well as Prevost) show fine views of Greece, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Ramla, Gaza, and Egypt. antiquities of Cairo (3), and the temples at Carnak in Thebes (2).

Beautiful copy albeit some occasional foxing or spotting, entirely uncut and of royal provenance (coat of arms of Antoine d'Orléans on spine).