Photographically Illustrated Dutuit Collection

[Dutuit, Auguste]. COLLECTION AUGUSTE DUTUIT. ANTIQUITES, MEDAILLES ET MONNAIES, OBJETS DIVERS. EXPOSES AU PALAIS DU TROCADERO EN 1878. Paris: A. Lévy, 1879. Folio [32.5 by 25.5 cm], original maroon cloth, bordered, decorated, lettered and ruled in gilt and black; spine ruled in black, lettered and decorated in gilt; top page edges gilt. (6), 71, (1), (2), 74–169, (1), (2), 171–191, (1) pages; text illustrations; a total of 36 plates, including 22 of antiquities (8 engravings, 3 phototypes, 5 hand-tinted lithographs, and 6 lithographs [one of them double]), 6 of coins and medals (3 engravings and 8 albumen images trimmed to size and mounted on three leaves), and 8 of “objets divers” (1 phototype, 2 chromolithographs, 2 extraordinary color phototypes, and 3 engravings). Pagination and numbering of plates is occasionally confused, but is complete and as published. Rebacked, with original faded spine laid on; some spotting and foxing. Very good or better. A rare and impressive illustrated folio recording this great collection. The antiquities were catalogued by François Lenormant; the coins by Félix Feuardent; and the “objets divers” by Eugène Dutuit, the brother of Auguste. The numismatic material comprises pages 73–170 and catalogue numbers 160–536. This 1879 volume utilizes several illustrative techniques, the most impressive of which is Léon Vidal’s photochromie process. The photochrome process was an early technique allowing the printing of photographic images in color; it was highly suitable for art books and catalogues, as a large number of plates could be printed from one photograph and color retention was good (most of them have held their color well to this day). The process was developed in the early 1870s by Léon Vidal (1833–1906), a French photographer who was awarded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition of 1878 for his work in this field. The color in Vidal’s “photochromes” is not taken directly from life, however; it is indirect, using modified black and white negatives. It was the state of the art for only a short time, but it was an impressive technological advance and the prints remain attractive today. While the photochrome process was not used for the numismatic plates, three of the six numismatic plates are photographic, which is unusual in itself for an 1879 volume.