De Gasparin - Histoire de la ville d’Orange - 1815

DE GASPARIN, [AUGUSTE-ÉTIENNE-SIMÉON].
History of the town of Orange, and of its antiquities; adorned with 6 engravings in etching. Orange: At Joseph Bouchony, Printer-Bookseller, 1815.

In-8. Period binding in decorative paper with a tortoiseshell/wood diagonal pattern, smooth spine adorned with a leather title-piece in havana morocco.
Rare and precious original edition of this historical monograph of reference devoted to the town of Orange, written by Count Auguste de Gasparin (statesman, agronomist and Provençal scholar, member of the Institute).

Published at the very end of the Empire and at the dawn of the Restoration, this work is authoritative on the eventful history of the Principality of Orange, from its Celtic and Roman origins to its incorporation into France, while providing a meticulous inventory of its ancient monuments (notably the theater and the Arch of Triumph).

The volume is distinguished by its exceptional folded plates, including the spectacular double engraved plate depicting the “View in Perspective of the City and Castle of Orange Before Its Demolition” and the “Plan of the Fortifications of the City, and Castle of Orange” after seventeenth-century documents.

Binding from the period in good condition, featuring original boards in very good condition and a well-preserved spine with its title-piece. Interior clean and fresh, complete with its 6 folded engraved plates in very good condition. A sought-after copy of this provincial monograph.

The author of this book, Auguste de Gasparin, was not merely a local scholar passionate about the Roman stones of Orange: he pursued a meteoric political and administrative career in parallel.

A few years after the publication of this History of the City of Orange (1815), Gasparin became prefect, then deputy, before being named Minister of the Interior under the July Monarchy in 1836.