Entrance to the French Capuchin Monastery in Athens (after Le Bas)
Etching, 1854, Schneiderman 50 (iii/III); edition unknown. 7 5/8 x 4 7/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. This is a fine, rich impression printed with plate tone. The margins are somewhat narrow and the condition is fine. (There's a faint suggestion of an earlier mat line.) This print was published in "Athens aux XVe, XVIe et XVIIe Siècles" by Count Léon Laborde (1854).
$1,500

L'Abside de Notre Dame (The Apse of Notre Dame)
Etching and drypoint, 1854, Scheiderman 45 (vi/IX), Delteil/Wright 38 (v/VIII); edition unknown. 6 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower left, below the image. This is a superb, luminous impression printed on a beautiful sheet of thin china paper. The margins are wide and probably this is the full, untrimmed sheet. The condition is fine apart from slight, old toning (and thinning) from earlier hinges at the top corner edges of the sheet. This iconic Meryon print is from the celebrated collections of B.B. MacGeorge (Lugt 394) and J.J. Heywood (Lugt 1276). Their collector marks are not evident on the print itself but the original Knoedler label from the frame indicates this impression is # 38 in the landmark 1917 catalogue and exhibition of Meryon prints from the MacGeorge Collection. As described in the catalogue, MacGeorge owned five impressions of L'Abside de Notre Dame and this one is "(d) Fifth state, chine." This impression is also cited in Delteil/Wright in his entry for the fifth state, "Mr. MacGeorge also had a proof on thin india paper." In addition, there's an old pencil inscription on the bottom of the margin which reads, "from the Heywood collection." (The Knoedler inventory number on the label also appears in pencil on the bottom margin.) This is an exceptional 19th century French etching with impeccable provenance.
SOLD

L'Ancien Louvre, Paris (The Old Louvre, Paris, after Zeeman)
Etching, 1865-66, Schneiderman 96 (v/VI), Delteil-Wright (v/VI); edition unknown. 6 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. Unsigned. This is a fine impression printed on sturdy wove paper. The margins are wide. The condition is very good apart from toning along the top edge, verso, from an early adhesive and minor toning along the extreme bottom edge, verso. According to Delteil/Wright, "Meryon etched this plate from a painting by Zeeman in the Louvre, as a commission from the French Government, shortly before his second and final term in the asylum at Charenton, two years before his death. The etching was done on the back of the cancelled plate of the Petit Pont." This lifetime impression is from the collection of Alfred Morrison (Lugt 151). Morrison (1821-1897) was a prominent collector of his time.
SOLD

La Galerie Notre Dame
Etching with engraving, 1853, Schneiderman 29 (iii/VI), Delteil-Wright 26 (iii/V); edition unknown. 11 x 6 7/8 in. Signed and dated in the plate. This is a superb, early, luminous impression of the very rare third state, before the the top borderline has been strengthened. The margins are full and the paper is a fine laid without a watermark. The condition is excellent other than for a modest little spot of discoloration in the lower margin and a tiny paper loss in the upper right corner of the sheet. This iconic image by Meryon is one of his finest prints. This impression is from the celebrated collection of Henri M. Petiet, Paris, and bears his stamp on the verso, lower left.
SOLD

La Rue des Toiles à Bourges
Etching, 1853, Schneiderman 31 (v/IX), Delteil-Wright 55 (v/IX), edition unknown. 8 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. Signed and dated in the plate with the printed signature and date, lower left. This is a stellar, rich impression with wide margins. The condition is fine. Ex-collection: Mrs. M.J. Morgan (Lugt 1879) wife of the New York banker.
$4,000

La Tour de l'Horloge (The Clock Tower)
Etching with engraving, 1852 and later, Schneiderman 23 (iv/X), Delteil-Wright iv/X); edition unknown. 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. Initialed in the plate, upper right. This is a superb, luminous impression on cream laid paper with the watermark "D & C BLAUW." The margins are good measuring about 3/4" on all sides. The condition is fine other than for a tiny, imperceptible pinhole/paper imperfection in the smoke between the clock tower and the first turret. This stellar impression is from the collection of Sir Francis Seymour Haden (Lugt 3938) with his pencil initials on front of the sheet, lower right. Delteil-Wright notes that Haden purchased a fifth state impression from Delâtre for the Victoria & Albert Museum in December, 1860.
SOLD

La Tour de l'Horloge (The Clock Tower)
Etching with engraving, 1852 and later, Scheiderman 23 (v/X); edition unknown. 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. Initialed in the plate, upper right corner. This is a fine impression printed on white laid paper. There's a partial fleur de lis watermark not identified. The margins are probably full. The condition is fine apart from a trace of an old adhesive along the extreme top edge of the sheet, verso. In this, the fifth state, the horizontal line in the blank area at bottom has been removed. The susequent sixth state was printed in an edition of 600 for L'Artiste and that is inscribed in this blank are along the bottom. The catalogue lists twenty impressions mostly of which are in museum collections.
SOLD