Extremely rare atlas - Lot 160

Extremely rare atlas GAURIER (Ludovic Charles) abbé Atlas of the lakes of the Pyrenees. [Slne., 1928]. In plano: 100 large plates at 1,000th and 2,000th scale. Hardcover ½ black percaline with corners, green morocco vignette with gilt title on upper board, fastened with 6 laces. Extremely rare. Monumental work, never equaled. The only one in private hands! Until today, no copy was referenced in a private collection (here, possibly the author's). The gigantic "Atlas de Lacs des Pyrénées" (containing bathymetric maps of 210 lakes) published in 1926 is said to have been printed in only seven copies, deposited with various public bodies. The Bnf copy appears to contain 109 plates, 9 more than the one presented here. We have no serious study of this work on which to base an indisputable collation. The Académie des Sciences and the Société de Géographie also hold a copy. The Musée Pyrénéen copy has long since been lost. The explanatory text, which was supposed to relate to it, was in the process of being written when death took it away in 193. In 1934, a posthumous book entitled "Lakes of the French Pyrenees" was published based on this work. Abbé Ludovic Gaurier (1875-1931), son of an ocean-going captain, descended from a long line of sailors settled on the island of Oléron. In August 1900, a doctor sent him to Cauterets to treat the onset of laryngitis. Captivated by the beauty of the Pyrenees, the massif awakened in him a vocation as a geographer and geologist. He made his first excursions there, devoted himself to glaciology and began the study of the Vignemale glaciers that he would later pursue. From 1907 to 1909, he worked on the lakes of the Ossau valley (see lot 162 in the catalog). This early work attracted the attention of the French Ministry of Agriculture, which entrusted him with the task of studying all the lakes on the French slopes. From 1905 to 1931, he was commissioned to study, among other things, the topography, geology and lake basins of the French side of the Pyrenean lakes. In 1919, the Ministry of Public Works added his support and commissioned him to draw up precise documentation on all the forces that the tiered lakes of the Pyrenees could provide to ensure the operation of plants of all kinds, especially hydroelectric plants. He counted, studied and mapped (in part only) the 520 lakes inventoried, using surveying instruments that he carried with him on a small canvas boat. This work lasted fifty months, during which he lived in precarious camps in harsh conditions. He was nicknamed "the bear" and made it the emblem of his pennant. By 1926, Gaurier had already mapped 171 lakes, and his campaign that same year brought his total to 200. The aim was to draw up a complete map of the lakes in the French Pyrenees, and to study their depth and characteristics. The accompanying explanatory text was being written when he died in 1931. In 1934, he published a posthumous book entitled "Lacs des Pyrénées Françaises", based on his work. (see catalog lot 161). This distinguished Pyrenean scientist devoted his life to the study of lakes throughout the Pyrenean chain. From those of the Gave de Pau basin to those of the Aude and Têt rivers. For twenty-five years, he criss-crossed the Pyrenees, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. In 1931, shortly before his death, he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur for services rendered to France. After a final campaign exploring lakes, Ludovic Gaurier died in Pau on September 16, 1931. He lies at the foot of the Cirque de Gavarnie, alongside G.Ledormeur and C.Passet, not far from F.Schrader. His name also remains associated with a cave he discovered and developed near the False Breche in Gavarnie, which he named "Villa Gaurier".