Lampué, Peter (Pierre)

Berlin, Wasmuth, (ca 1880). 48x32. 4 pp. (title leaf and list of plates) in each volume; + 45 + 40 + 42 + 42 + 42 + 42 + 42 "plates" i.e. heavy blue-gray card boards with mounted original collotypes of photographs showing elevations, sections and plans; thus a total of 295 plates, each with one collotype except 44 plates which have two, usually elevation and plan. The plates of vols. 2, 3, and 5 have printed numbers and captions; plates of vols, 1, 6 and 7 have printed numbers only (with the exception of eight plates in vol. 1 which have captions also); the plates in volume 4 have no numbers or captions and are identified on the list of plates only. Excellent set kept in seven contemporary uniform cloth-backed portfolios with tie-strings and gilt-lettered spines.

A marvellous set of collotype prints from photographs of architectural competition designs for the Prix de Rome, the winners of which were awarded a bursary that allowed them stay in Rome for three to five years at the expense of the state. Pierre Lampué was a prominent member of the French Society of Photography, and the official photographer of the École de Beaux Arts in Paris. The highly sofisticated collotype prints were obviously produced in strictly limited editions, and collections of this scope are of the utmost rarity. A beautiful and valuable pictorial archive of French Beaux-Arts architecture.