LE CARPENTIER (Matthieu). Recueil des plans, coupes et éléva - Lot 556

LE CARPENTIER (Matthieu). Recueil des plans, coupes et élévations du nouvel hôtel de ville de Rouen, dont la construction a été commencé en mai 1757 [...] Paris, Jombert, 1758. Large folio (50 x 33 cm) in brown calf, smooth spine decorated with a long gilt roulette, triple gilt fillet framing the boards with gilt flowers in spandrels, small gilt coat of arms in the center of the boards (period binding). The coat of arms is to be compared with that of the town of Chalons sur Marne, although it is not exactly identical to the irons reproduced in O.H.R. (796). [2]-9 pp. The illustration consists of a dedication vignette, a double-page fold-out map of Rouen and 5 plates out of text. "The building was to rise at the western end of the Vieux-Marché, forming the center of a long, beautiful street, with the Cathedral and Hôtel-Dieu at either end. A start was made on this project: the foundations were raised above ground level, and a million euros had already been spent, when the municipal administration, frightened by the enormity of the expenditure required to complete this grandiose plan, abandoned all work. Frère II, 181. Ex-libris JM.