GOURDON (Maurice) - Lot 375

GOURDON (Maurice) Collection of various publications by Maurice GOURDON: - Ascension en Andorre (Le puig de Manat - Le puig d'Estanyo) - Aux rives de l'Embalire ou ce que j'ai vu en Andorre (1878, 1881, 1883) - La vallée d'Aran (1877) - Le pic de Montarto des Aranais (1877) - Explorations nouvelles en Catalogne (1880) - Les montagnes de Caldas (1877) - Au pays d'Aran (1924) - Avec table des matières 224pp.) - Le pic du Gar (1892) - Le pic de Cagire (1913) - Le pic de Montaspect - Les montagnes secondaires du pays de Luchon (1928) - Table of contents, 195pp.) - Au pays de Luchon (1920) - Un lever de soleil en hiver à Céciré (1891) - La vallée et le portillon de Burbe (1922) - Ascension de la Pigne (1908) - Le pic de la Pigne par le nord et le Bec de Corbeau (1913) - La vallée du Nistos (1913) - Du lac Saoussat à la vallée de Lys par le Col de Médassoles supérieur (1913) - Le Turbon (1912). Large in-8. Texts and booklets bound one after the other. Some of the pieces with autograph letters from the author. A business card from Maurice Gourdon appended to the book. ½ marbled fawn basane, ornate ribbed spine, bronze title and thematic pieces, gilt filets and central diamond iron, gilt head. A good copy. Exceptional set. Some of the texts in this collection are extremely rare, such as Au Pays d'Aran (edition of 50 copies (n°19)), Au pays de Luchon, Aux rives de l'Embalire (edition of 45 copies), and several other texts in confidential editions. Maurice Gourdon (1847-1941) decided to settle in Luchon in 1871 and devoted most of his time to the Pyrenees. As a geologist, he studied and collected samples. A species of trilobite bears his name: Gourdonia Gourdoni. A draughtsman, painter and lithographer, he left hundreds of documents, many of which can be found in the Luchon museum. As a photographer, he took his large photographic camera all over the Luchon mountains and was one of the greatest Pyrenean photographers. In 1872, he met Eugène TRUTAT. Together, they embarked on a number of scientific expeditions, studying in particular the advance of glaciers, most notably the Maladeta glacier (1873). He methodically traversed the Luchonnais mountains, achieving numerous firsts: the Mail pintrat, the Mail planet, the pic Noir. He premieres the Grande Encantat in the Val d'Aran, and the Aneto in winter. He explores the Larboust valley, a former Oô glacial valley, to survey its boulders. At the same time, he inventoried the megaliths: cromlechs, menhirs, alignments on the Espiau mountain, then, in the Val d'Aran, at Pla de Beret. As a cartographer, he took part with Franz SCHRADER and Paul Édouard WALLON in the topographical surveys used to draw up the new staff maps, under the instructions of Captain PRUDENT, whose methods would later be applied to the mapping of the Alps. He then traversed the southern slopes of the range: Aragon, Maladeta, Val d'Aran, Andorra and Catalonia. He was one of the first to write about Andorra, a small country with difficult access. Henri BERALDI included him in his Pléiade pyrénéiste, alongside Henry RUSSELL, Aymar de SAINT-SAUD, Paul Édouard WALLON, Franz SCHRADER, Alphonse LEQUEUTRE and Captain PRUDENT. He is the author of nearly 170 works on his explorations, geology, flora and fauna, and a wide variety of other subjects.