Description

FIRST EDITION with a fine macabre frontispiece on Chine appliqué by E. Tavernier.
ONE OF 12 NUMBERED COPIES ON CHINESE with two states of the frontispieceAfter 2 copies on parchment, an unnumbered current edition follows.

An anticipatory tale presented as the report, in the form of letters, of an archaeological expedition from Nouméa, at work on the site of the French capital in 4875, after "the incredible violence of the cataclysm that has shaken the whole old world and which [Nouméa] alone had the privilege of escaping":

"It was Paris; none of us doubted it; these grandiose ruins were indeed the tomb of the queen of the old world. Her proud head still hovers above these desolate spaces. In a valley whose extent our eyes could barely grasp, we could see a jumble of domes, columns, porticoes, soaring spires, immense roofs, pediments, statues, capitals, entablatures, crests, cornices; and to our left we could see, proud and bold against the black sky, the crowning glory of the triumphal arch raised by one of the last Poleons of France to the glory of her armies."

The many misinterpretations made by the scientists are bound to amuse, and make for a very interesting story. For example, in the words of M. Legendre, rapporteur:

"There can be no doubt that the French were governed for some years by a woman called the Republic. Is it not quite natural that a statue should have been erected to her, and that she should be depicted on horseback, clad in armour and crowned with laurels?"

Alfred FRANKLIN (1830-1917), administrator of the Mazarine Library, was also a prolific bibliographer and historian, specialising in the history of Paris. Paris in 3000 yearsIn 1908, it was expanded and updated by a less confidential publisher under a different title, The ruins of Paris in 4908.

Rare on China paper, which, as is often the case, shows some pitting.