Art

A pair of attractive maps, one above the other, showing this area around the Attica mountains near to Athens. The top map of the pair is a contemporary map with landmarks labelled in French. The bottom map shows the same area in classical times, with key historical sites picked out, labelled in Latin. Both maps have a scale to the left and a compass in bottom left corner. In 1776 Choiseul-Gouffier and the artist J.B. Hilaire joined a cartographic survey of the Mediterranean. Volume I of Voyage Pittoresque, his account of their tour of the Greek islands, the coast of Asia Minor, and of his travels on the mainland, was immediately acclaimed on publication in 1778. According to Brunet, it was incontestably the most beautiful production of this kind seen until then. Choiseul-Gouffier's work offered for the first time, illustrations of remote places that complemented the scrupulously researched narrative. Copper engraving. Later colour. Good condition, despite crease marks running down right margin, not affecting images. Good wide margins. Size: 25 x 37.5 cm. (10 x 15 inches)