COLLECTIVE. The Devil in Paris. Paris and the... Lot 42

[COLLECTIVE]. The Devil in Paris. Paris and the Parisians. Manners and customs, characters and portraits of the inhabitants of Paris, a complete picture of their private, public, political, artistic, literary, industrial life, etc., etc. Paris: J. Hetzel, 1845-1846. - 2 volumes in-8, brown half-chagrin, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges (binding around 1860). Famous collective work offering a series of small stories drawing an interesting portrait of Parisian life in the middle of the 19th century. It is one of the jewels of what was called panoramic literature, giving a picture of society through the portrait of representative types and the representation of typical places. The finest examples of this literature are Mercier's "Le Tableau de Paris" (1781-1788), "Paris ou le livre des cent-et-un" (1831-1832), "Les Français peints par eux-mêmes" (1840-1842) and "Le Diable à Paris" (1845-1846). The authors who contributed to this collection are among the most famous of the 19th century. There are, in particular, fragments by Balzac, who later composed the "Petites Misères de la vie conjugale", but also texts by George Sand, Charles Nodier, Alfred and Paul de Musset, Léon Gozlan, Alphonse Karr, Henri Monnier, Méry, Taxile Delord, Eugène Briffault, Édouard Ourliac, Auguste Barbier, Charles Monselet, who was just beginning his literary career, Arsène Houssaye, Théophile Gautier, Gérard de Nerval, and others. Hetzel also commissioned Théodore Lavallée to write a "History of Paris" and a "Geography of Paris" to serve as forewords to each of the volumes. The work also features a brilliant and abundant illustration composed of more than 800 woodcuts in the text, mainly by Bertall, but also by Leblanc, Henry Monnier and Français, as well as 212 woodcuts after Gavarni except for the last four after Bertall. Some wear to the spines. Two plates loose in the first volume.