[CURMER L.]. Collection of photographs. L'Aurore. Le Jour. L - Lot 83

[CURMER L.]. Collection of photographs. L'Aurore. Le Jour. Le Matin. Le Midi. S.l.n.d. (ca. 1867), 4 vol. in-12, turquoise morocco, motto in gilt Gothic letters framing the boards, arms stamped in the center, ribbed spines decorated with the number [L.C.] interlaced and repeated several times, lining decorated with a seeded pattern of a different motif for each board, crowned lion (T. I), flowers (T. II), flowers (T. III), daisies (T. IV), with a turquoise-blue morocco reserve in the center of each first lining plate, decorated with a floral iron, yellow moiré silk endpapers, natural edges ([Hardy (?)]). A 4-volume collection of 141 plates, most of them laminated photographs. They depict Curmer (T. I), A. Dumas with his mistress Adah Menken (T. III, 2 photographic portraits, the 1st a Liebert cliché ca. 1867), portraits of women, actresses, reproductions of paintings... many are captioned. Each volume opens with a watercolor title. Reading the catalog of the sale of the manuscripts and books of publisher Léon Curmer (1801-1870), we can legitimately assume that this set was entrusted to Hardy, who received other commissions from this ardent bibliophile. He practiced from 1850 to 1880. A motto has been embossed in Gothic script on both covers of the bindings of each volume: "Amour, cest aveugle enchanteur, M'a pourveu de maitresse telle, Que s'il eut congneu sa haulteur, Lui-même fust serviteur d'elle." (First volume) Each volume is housed in a havana morocco cigar case lined at the foot and head with red velvet. Dimensions: 159 x 98 mm. Provenances: L. Curmer (Cat., 1874, no. 5); A. Vautier (Cat., 1977, no. 175, "Ce recueil figure dans son catalog mais n'a pas été mis en vente.").