EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE 1878 - BERGERAT (Émile). Masterpieces... Lot 631

[EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE 1878] - BERGERAT (Émile). Masterpieces of art at the Universal Exhibition. 1878. Paris: Ludovic Baschet, 1878. - 2 volumes in one folio, 471 x 343: (7 ff.), 166 pp, (1 blank f.), 20 plates; (4 ff.), 207 pp, 20 plates. Red half-chagrin with corners, gilt fillets, ornate spine, gilt head, untrimmed (period binding). First edition of this monumental work published under the direction of Émile Bergerat and designed to present the masterpieces of art from the 1878 Universal Exhibition, in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving. The finest of these masterpieces, numbering 40 according to Bergerat, are reproduced in photogravure hors texte, 20 in each volume. Published in 40 issues, the book contains articles and partly unpublished literary works by Émile Bergerat, René Delorme, Alphonse Daudet, José-Maria de Hérédia, Gustave Droz, Théodore de Banville, François Coppée, Armand Silvestre, André Theuriet, Émile Zola and others. In addition to 40 heliogravure plates, the book features a large number of illustrations in the text, by such great artists as Eugène Detaille, Henri Pille, Eugène Grasset, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Maurice Leloir, Adrien-Moreau, Jules Breton, Georges Rochegrosse, Gustave Doré, Meissonier and Seï-Teï Watanabé. ONE OF 25 NUMBERED EXEMPLIES ON CHINESE PAPER (no. 11), including the hors-texts printed on chine collé. Rubbing to boards and edges of boards, with tears. Scattered foxing. Also included: - VANDIÈRES (Simon de). L'Exposition universelle de 1878 illustrée. Paris : Calmann Lévy, 1879. - In-folio, 440 x 305 : 159 pp. Red percale decorated with special gilt and black irons, smooth spine (Engel). Beautiful album presented by Simon de Vandières, featuring wood-engraved exterior and interior views of the 1878 Universal Exhibition. A well-preserved copy. Some foxing.