Ciceri / Fatio - Kil-Bouroun - 1857

THE WAR CONGEALS IN THE ICE OF THE DNIEPR: A RARE ALBUM OF THE CRIMEA CAMPAIGN
Large-format illustrated album (602x435 mm).
An extraordinary visual testimony of the Crimean War, Nos Souvenirs de Kil-Bouroun documents one of the most extreme and least represented episodes of the conflict: the winter spent by the French navy immobilized in the ice of the Liman of the Dniepr between 1855 and 1856. The album does not celebrate traditional military glory but captures a suspended, almost metaphysical atmosphere made of ice, silence, trapped ships, improvised fortifications, and men scattered in a white, hostile landscape. The magnificent lithographs by Eugène Ciceri, Bayot and Morel Fatio transform the theater of war into a poetic and desolate vision: the frozen sea becomes a mineral desert, while the French vessels appear as motionless wrecks at the margins of the Russian Empire. The work belongs to that rare iconography of nineteenth-century war in which nature wholly dominates man and the historical event takes on an almost romantic and apocalyptic character.
MARKET VALUE
Illustrated albums dedicated to the Crimean War represent a highly sought-after sector of historical-military and nineteenth-century iconographic collecting. Complete copies of Nos Souvenirs de Kil-Bouroun, particularly rare on the market, generally fetch values between 700 and 2,000 euros, with higher prices for fresh, colored copies complete with the lithographs.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Large in-plain album. Contemporary black half-morocco binding with a smooth gold-decorated spine. Binding shows wear and signs of use. Complete with the lithographic title on a camelhair-colored background, 14 lithographs of 15, most printed in two tones and hand-colored, executed by Eugène Ciceri, A. Bayot and Morel Fatio. Also present is the winter station plan of Kil-Bouroun engraved by Avril. The plates depict naval scenes, icy landscapes, fortifications, encampments and views of the Liman of the Dniepr during the Crimean winter campaign. Some physiological foxing and pinking, more evident on the title and margins of the plates. In old books with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 32nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Nos Souvenirs de Kil-Bouroun pendant l’hiver passé dans le liman du Dnieper 1855-1856.
Paris, Arthus-Bertrand, s.d. [circa 1857].
Eugène Ciceri, Morel Fatio.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The album arose from the direct experience of French officers involved in the Crimean War, one of the great European conflicts of the 19th century fought between Russia and the Franco-British-Ottoman alliance. After the capture of Sevastopol, part of the French fleet spent the harsh winter of 1855-1856 blocked in the ice near Kil-Bouroun, in the Liman of the Dniepr. This episode generated a very particular collective memory: not so much heroic or triumphal, but marked by isolation, extreme cold, and the precariousness of military life on the borders of the Russian Empire.
The lithographs by Eugène Ciceri and Morel Fatio constitute the artistic core of the work. More than mere military documents, they fully belong to the French Romantic sensibility: immense icy plains, milky skies, immobilized ships, and tiny human figures produce an effect of melancholy and desolation extraordinarily modern. In some plates, the war almost disappears, replaced by the landscape itself, which becomes the absolute protagonist.
The album also fits within the great nineteenth-century tradition of the “albums militaires,” luxury works intended for officers, collectors, and aristocratic circles interested in Napoleonic and colonial campaigns. However, compared to the usual celebratory repertoires, Nos Souvenirs de Kil-Bouroun has a much more intimate and contemplative tone, almost diary-like, which makes it today one of the most fascinating iconographic testimonies of the Crimean War.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHORS
Eugène Ciceri (1813-1890) was one of the leading French lithographers and landscape artists of the 19th century, renowned for Alpine views, seascapes, and theatrical scenery. Morel Fatio (1810-1871), official painter of the French navy, documented numerous naval and military events of the era. Their collaborations helped define the visual imaginary of the French navy during the Second Empire.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Published by Arthus-Bertrand soon after the end of the Crimean War, the album was intended for a limited audience of officers, military circles, and print collectors. The relatively limited edition and the fragile nature of the large lithographic plates explain the rarity of the work today. Many copies are incomplete or with missing plates, largely due to the dispersion of the lithographs, often sold separately as decorative views of a naval and military subject.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Chadenat, Bibliographie des ouvrages relatifs à l’Afrique et à l’Arabie, n. 1634.
WorldCat: registrations of the album Nos Souvenirs de Kil-Bouroun.
Arthus-Bertrand catalogs dedicated to French military campaigns.
Benezit, Dictionnaire des peintres, graveurs et sculpteurs, entries “Ciceri” and “Morel Fatio.”