De l'Organisation des Muse'e Nationaux

Paris: Imprimerie Bonaventure et Ducessois, 1849. 8vo. 215 x 125mm. (8 1/2 x 5 inches). 32 pp. Original printed wrappers; light foxed, cellophane wrapper. Original edition of this pamphlet by Simone de Horsin-Déon, who was Président of the Société des Peintures Restaurateurs. His pamphlet, written after the Revolution of 1848 was suppressed, addresses the issue of back pay for conservators who lost wages while the Louvre was occupied. With the establishment of a new government and new museum administration, the situation of the remaining experts and conservators needed to be addressed. The new leadership in museum, a welcome result for Horsin-Déon, needed to be recognize the contributions of the experts who had dedicated their lives to art, who loved the museum and worked with selfless devotion for the benefit of the nation. He develops his thoughts in a few chapters which include his views of the how the Louvre should be organized; how experts should be hired and compensated; the director of restoration department be an expert conservator and not a bureaucrat; and that conservators should be hired based on skills and not connections. Rare: OCLC lists only the copy at the Frick in the U.S. and five other copies all in France. (120). (Inventory #: 120)