Villeneuve & Adam, “Cours de la Massa”, 1828

Louis Jules Frédéric Villeneuve (1796–1842) and Victor Adam (1801–1866)

“Cours de la Massa” (The course of the Massa River)—the Massa is a glacial river fed by the Aletsch glacier, coursing through a deep gorge, the Massaschlucht, in Valais, Switzerland, before flowing into the Rhône, 1828

Technical Details & Condition:

Lithograph printed on pale grey chine collé on heavy wove paper, with wide margins. It was published by Engelmann & Cie as Plate 23 in a series of 31 lithographs illustrating the fourth volume of Adrien de Golbéry’s “Lettres sur la Suisse” (Letters on Switzerland) that focused on the Lake Geneva, Chamonix, and Valais regions. The lithograph was printed by Godefroy Engelmann I (1788–1839) in Paris, after a drawing by Louis Jules Frédéric Villeneuve executed from direct observation (en plein air) of the surrounding landscape and studies of the figures by Victor Adam (also known as Victor Jean Adam and Victor Vincent Adam) (1801–1866).

The impression is strong and evenly printed. Aside from a small dot in the margin at lower left and slight waviness to the margin at right, the sheet is in excellent condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, and significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 47.1 x 30.3 cm
• Chine collé: 30.4 x 21.7 cm
• Image borderline: 28.2 x 19.5 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Upper left corner: “4^e: P.” (abbreviation signifying that this print is part [Partie] of the fourth volume of “Lettres sur la Suisse”)
• Upper right corner: “Pl. 23.”
• Lower left: “Villeneuve 1828. Fig par V. Adam.”  
• Lower centre: “COURS DE LA MASSA”
• Lower right: “Lith. de Engelmann, rue du Faub. Montmartre N: 6 à Paris.”

References:

• Jean-Victor de Constant Rebecque & Philippe-Amédée de Golbéry, Lettres sur la Suisse, Fourth Part (Lake Geneva, Chamonix, Valais), Paris: Godefroy Engelmann, 1827/1828, Plate 23
• Nicolas-Philibert Adelon (ed.), Bibliothèque helvétique: ou Recueil de pièces concernant la Suisse, Vol. 4, Paris, 1827
• French National Library (Bibliothèque nationale de France), Department of Prints and Photography (Département des Estampes et de la photographie), Ser. Lettres sur la Suisse
• Hamburger Kunsthalle: https://online-sammlung.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/de/objekt/kb-1863-85-524-IV-30
• Henri Beraldi, Les Graveurs du Dix-Neuvième Siècle: Saint-Marcel – Zwinger, Vol. XII, Paris: Librairie L. Conquet, 1892, pp. 242–243 (Discusses Villeneuve’s Alpine landscape series generally; this specific plate unlisted)

Price & Shipping:

AU$222 (approximately US$154.46 / €135.12 / £116.68), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

Capturing the thrilling peril of 19th-century Alpine adventure, this dramatic scene pits hunter-adventurers against a breathless abyss and a terrifyingly fragile footbridge. To acquire this exceptional lithograph, please contact oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. Secure payment is handled via PayPal invoice for a smooth, protected transaction.

Isidore Laurent Deroy, “Récolte du Café” (Coffee Harvest), 1835, after Johann Moritz Rugendas

Isidore Laurent Deroy (aka Deroi; Laurent Deroy) (1797–1886)
“Récolte du Café” (Coffee Harvest), 1835, after a drawing by Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802–1858). Printed by Godefroy Engelmann I (1788–1839) and published by Engelmann, Graf, Coindet & Co in Paris as plate 8 to Johann Moritz Rugendas’ “Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil” (Picturesque Voyage in Brazil), part of the fourth issue (division), “Sitten und Gebräuche Neger” (Customs and Tradition of the Negroes).

This scene, rooted in Rugendas’ sketches from his nearly three-year journey across Brazil—culminating in the publication of the four-section/division, “Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil”, between 1826 and 1835—captures a vivid Romantic European perspective on life in nineteenth-century Latin America. Beyond its beauty, this lithograph subtly advocates against slavery. Through its visual and contextual narratives, it challenges the dehumanisation inherent in the institution, inviting reflection on themes of freedom, dignity, and social justice.

An online view of the publication and the context of this illustration can be found on Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/gri_33125012637993/page/n397/mode/2up.

Lithograph on wove paper with small margins around the image borderline and writing edge.

Size: (sheet) 28.8 x 33.9 cm; (image borderline) 24.6 x 31 cm.

Lettered in plate above the image borderline: (left) “4^e. Div.”; (right) “Pl. 8.”

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Dess: d'ap: nat: par Rugendas.”; (centre) “Lith: de Engelmann, rue du faub: ^g Montmartre N^o. 6 a Paris./ RÉCOLTE DU CAFÉ.”; (right) Deroi del:”.

Teuscher 1106 (Andrea Teuscher 1998, “Die Künstler familie Rugendas 1666–1858: Werkverzeichnis zur Druckgraphik”, Augsburg, Wißner, p. 278, cat. no. 1106).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression with small margins. There are pin holes and small closed tears in the upper margins, otherwise the sheet is in a good condition with no significant stains.

Price & Shipping: AU$374 (approx. US$244.24/ €211.22/ £185.72), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in purchasing this historically significant lithograph depicting a rare view of nineteenth-century life on a coffee plantation at harvest time in the Tijuca Forest outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I will gladly send you a PayPal invoice for a secure and convenient transaction.

Jean-Paul Alaux, “Darnetal Bell Tower”, 1822

Jean-Paul Alaux (aka Gentil Alaux; [Gentil] Alaux de Bordeaux) (1788–1858)

“Darnetal Bell Tower” (aka “Clocher de Darnethal” [as titled in the plate]; “Clocher de Darnetal” [as titled in the publication index, p. 187]), 1822, lithograph printed by Godefroy Engelmann I (1788–1839), after the drawing, “Clocher de Darnethal” [sic], 1822, by Jean-Paul Alaux (see https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b7740634j.item), published in 1825 in Paris under the direction of Isidore Taylor (aka Baron Taylor; Isidore Justin Severin Taylor) (1789–1897), as plate 176 in “Voyages Pittoresques et Romantiques dans l'Ancienne France, Ancienne Normandie”, volume 2.

Archive.org offers a view of this print as published: https://archive.org/details/voyages-france-.-1825-ancienne-normandie/page/n307/mode/2up.

Lithograph on chine collé on wove paper backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 38 x 26.8cm: (chine collé) 34.9 x 26.8cm; (image borderline) 33 x 25.8cm.

Numbered in plate above the image borderline: (centre) “P. 176.”

Lettered in the plate below the image borderline: (left) “Gentil Alaux de Bordeaux 1822.”; (centre) “Clocher de Darnethal”; (right) “lith de G: Engelmann”.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression trimmed with a small margin around the image borderline and laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins. Beyond marks in the margin at upper right, the sheet is in a good condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this large and poetic portrayal of a looming bell tower in Normandy gently fading into the evening darkness behind a brightly lit religious celebration taking place on the ground close by, for AU $218 in total (currently US $136.14/ EUR 130.85/ GBP 108.52 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU $218) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this very romantic lithograph, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Théodore Gericault, Lesaint & Engelmann’s lithograph, “Church of St Nicolas, Rouen”, 1823

Théodore Gericault (1791-1824)—draughtsman of the portrayed horses;

Charles Louis Lesaint (1795-1843)—draughtsman of the architecture;

Godefroy Engelmann I (1788–1839)—printer.

“Church of St Nicolas, Rouen” (aka “L´Église de St. Nicolas” “Eglise St Nicolas, Rouen”), 1823, published in 1825 by l'Imprimerie de Pierre Didot l'Ainé in France as an illustration to Charles Nodier’s (1780–1844) et al., “Voyages Pittoresques et Romantiques dans l'Ancienne France: Ancienne Normandie”, vol. 2, following page 69; see https://archive.org/details/bnf-bpt6k1040443d/page/n215/mode/2up.

Lithograph on chine collé on wove paper.

Size: (sheet) 53 x 34.5 cm; (unevenly cut chine collé) 36.3 x 25.3 cm; (image borderline) 34.4 x 23.9 cm.

Lettered in plate above the image borderline: (centre) “P. 150.”

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “'Lesaint et Gericault. 1823.”; (centre) “Eglise S^t. Nicolas.”; (right) “Lith. de G: Engelmann.”

Clément 46 (Charles Clément 1879, “Géricault: étude biographique et critique, avec le Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre du maître”, Paris, Didier et cie, p. 302, cat. no. 46 [https://archive.org/details/gricaulttudebio00clgoog/page/n405/mode/2up]);  Delteil 93.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “View into a chapel, with in the foreground two horses unharnessed from a carriage from which men remove a coffin; light streaming in from the left, details of statuary and glass windows, other horses further back; published in 'Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l'ancienne France', (tome II: 'Normandie'). 1823” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-1114-279).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression. The chine collé is irregularly cut (compare with similarly irregular chine collé sheet to be seen in the impression held be the MET [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/399586]) with minor marks, otherwise, the sheet is in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

Interestingly, I understand that the portrayed church, Saint-Nicolas in Rouen, was damaged during the French Revolution leading to its closure for thirty-two years before this print was executed. Sadly, the church was ultimately destroyed fourteen years after this print was published, but “the steeple was moved to Cottévrard, and the stained glass to York Minster in England” (see https://www.stnicholascenter.org/gazetteer/1867#:~:text=The%2012th%20century%20Church%20of,1791%20and%20destroyed%20in%201840). I suspect that the portrayed scene —and I may be very wrong! —shows the Church of St Nicolas in its deconsecrated state of closure. If this is true then the sight of workmen removing the coffins of those interred into a large mud wagon/stagecoach with the far end of the church being used as a holding stable for horses makes sense for me. Note also the stirrups and other tack hung on the stonework along with a wheel on the left and the light piercing through the gathered dust in the air, I believe, supports the idea that the church is no longer a holy sanctuary.  

I am selling this rare lithograph executed in part by the great Théodore Gericault (who drew the horses and the wagon bearing a coffin) and by Charles Louis Lesaint (who drew the architectural details and light streaming into the church), for the total cost of AU$332 (currently US$221.91/EUR200.78/GBP176.75 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this outstanding lithograph, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold