Philipon de la Madeleine - Guide du promeneur aux Tuileries - 1806

PHILIPON DE LA MADELEINE (Louis) - Manual or New guide for the stroller at the Tuileries, containing the description of the Palace and the Garden, with the notice of the Statues, Busts, Vases and other figures that decorate them... - Paris, At the Merchants of Nouveautés / impr. des Annales des Arts et Manufactures, [s.d., 1806]

Ornamented with 78 engravings on 54 plates hors texte.

In-12 (approx. 14 x 9 cm). Frontispiece engraved showing the “View of the Tuileries Palace, Garden side,” prefatory warning specifying the recent movements of statues under imperial or consular administration, 218 pages of text ending with the poetic quotation of Abbé Delille (Poëme des Jardins), followed by tables of contents and the statues.

Abundantly illustrated with 54 copper engravings hors texte representing the architectural views of the Tuileries Palace (Garden side and Carrousel side) as well as the numbered figures of the garden sculptures (Senator, Lion, Nymphs of Diana, Minerva, etc.). Blonde morocco binding of the period, boards covered with marbled paper with a comb pattern. Smooth spine adorned with flower corners and gilt scrollwork, title piece in black morocco titled in gold (“GUIDE / AUX / TUILERIES”). Gilded edges. Missing the title page.

Fine copy. The period binding retains an elegant patina and solid structure. The interior is fresh, printed on laid paper with clear engraving reproductions.

Historical, literary and Parisian strolls context

Written by the chansonnier, man of letters and goguettier Louis Philipon de La Madeleine (1734–1818), this work is one of the most popular Paris promenade guides of the early 19th century. Created amid the bustle of Paris’s transformation under the Consulate and the First Empire, this Manual of the Stroller offered Parisians and travelers a guided, erudite and poetic tour of the Tuileries.

Philipon de La Madeleine reviews the history of the royal palace turned imperial residence of Napoleon I, as well as the masterpieces of classic sculpture and French classicism (Coysevox, Coustou, Le Pautre) scattered in the garden redesigned by André Le Nôtre.

Louis Philipon de La Madeleine was one of the founding members of the famous Dîner du Vaudeville and of the Caveau moderne, alongside Laujon and Armand Gouffé. This hedonistic and joyful spirit is reflected in his lively manner of strolling the avenues of the Tuileries, turning the simple historical notice into a quintessentially Parisian art of flânerie.