"THE BOOK IS EXCEPTIONAL AND… MUCH SOUGHT": BERTALL'S RICHLY ILLUSTRATED SURVEY OF THE VINEYARDS AND WINES OF FRANCE, LA VIGNE, 1878 FIRST EDITION

(WINE) BERTALL, Charles-Albert d'Arnoux. La Vigne. Voyage autour des Vins de France. Paris: E. Plon, 1878. Quarto, contemporary half brown morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers. $2200.

First edition of this "physiological, anecdotal, historical, humorous, and scientific" survey of the wines of France, with more than 400 full-page and in-text wood-engraved illustrations by Bertall. A handsome copy.

"Numerous anecdotes are given on the wines, the vineyardists, the proprietors, and tasters. The book is exceptional and, according to Vicaire, much sought" (Bitting). "Bertall made humorous designs for Parisian periodicals by the thousands; he drew many illustrations for popular editions in double columns; and he was also a major contributor to Balzac's Oeuvres Completes and Le Diable a Paris" (Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 299). Bitting, 38.

Interior clean, corners gently rounded. An excellent copy in handsome contemporary French binding.