LECOEUR (Charles Clément) - Lot 348

LECOEUR (Charles Clément) Le Béarn. History and Archaeological Walks. 70 lithographed plates after drawings by the author. Pau, Ribaut, 1877. Large in-8: XII, 352pp. illustrated with 70 plates (including 4 bis) (11 on white paper, the others on blue mottled paper). Vintage pink percaline, red title page on smooth spine. Collation of the plates a little complex, but this interesting, well-documented work, one of the finest works on Béarn, is complete. Charles Clément LE COEUR (1805-1897) was an architect in Paris. From July 1843 to September 1846, he lived with his family in Pau due to his wife's poor health. Back in Paris, his wife died in June 1848, and Charles and his son Pol moved to Pau in December of the same year. The Parisian architect then became curator of the Pau Museum. An interesting anecdote: In the spring of 1848, Pol Le Coeur was a student at the Lycée Henry IV in Paris. Seeing his sick mother only on Sundays, Charles, to cheer up his wife, commissioned a daguerreotype portrait of his son. For some unknown reason, he chose a photographer who was not yet officially established and totally unknown to him, whom he must have met through an acquaintance: Gustave Le Gray. Pol's portrait suddenly becomes a major work for photographic historians, as it is the only daguerreotype portrait of a person from outside Le Gray's family and circle of friends that can be dated with an accuracy of two months, i.e. between May and June 1848.