LABORDE, J.B.

FIRST EDITION. Impressive work created over the course of 15 years by Jean-Benjamin de Laborde (1734-1794), composer and first valet of King Louis XV who died guillotined in 1794. Conceived as a collection describing France as a nation in the modern sense, its customs , its geography and natural history, contains numerous splendid engravings, which later became famous, by artists such as Masquelier, Malapeau, Née, Tavernier, Aubigny, Moreau le Jeune, Chenu, Lespinasse, Duché, Carême de Fécamp.