DEMIDOFF, Anatole (1813–1870); DURAND, André (1807–1867); RAFFET, Auguste (1804–1860)

[Imperial Russia] Five Large Folio Tinted Lithographic Views of Moscow from Excursion pittoresque et archéologique en Russie, circa 1840s

Item #1657

Paris: Ernest Bourdin / Gihaut frères; printed by Auguste Bry, [1840–1848]. Five loose large folio tinted lithographs on heavy wove paper, drawn from nature and lithographed by André Durand, with figures by Auguste Raffet. Broad sheets measuring approximately 55 × 36 cm (21¾ × 14¼ inches) each. Five loose sheets with broad margins intact. All plates show light, uniform marginal age-toning and scattered pale foxing/spotting, primarily confined to the outer margins and corners. Occasional light handling creases, subtle edge cockling, and minor corner wear; blank versos show scattered pale toning and old penciled numerals to lower corners. The lithographic image fields remain crisp, clean, and dark, retaining fine architectural detail and tonal depth.

Suite of Plates:
No. 38: Moscou. La Porte Sainte. Entrée principale du Kremlin
No. 39: Moscou. Monastère de Devitchié-Polé
No. 48: Moscou. Cathédrale de Vassili Blagennoï. Façade principale. Côté du Kremlin
No. 51: Moscou. Cathédrale d'Ouspenski à la Pacrowka
No. 91: Moscou. Porte de la Résurrection et Palais des Tribunaux

A visually coherent suite of five large folio tinted lithographs documenting mid-19th-century Moscow, commissioned by Prince Anatole Demidoff during his landmark 1839 scientific and architectural expedition across the Russian Empire. Architectural draftsman André Durand rendered the monuments directly from nature, while famed illustrator Auguste Raffet supplied the staffage—animating each view with soldiers, clergy, townspeople, and horse-drawn sleighs.

This group highlights Moscow's most celebrated ecclesiastical and municipal architecture, including the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower (La Porte Sainte), St. Basil's Cathedral, the Naryshkin Baroque Church of the Assumption on Pokrovka, the Resurrection Gate, and an expansive architectural panorama of the Novodevichy Convent (Devitchié-Polé). The margins bear the series heading Moscou, plate numbers, Durand's in-image lithographic signatures, and the publisher/printer imprints: "Ernest Bourdin, Éditeur, rue de Seine, 51" and "Imp. Auguste Bry, r. du Bac, 114, Paris", corresponding to the desirable circa 1848 Bourdin reissue.

Price: $1,500.00