L'Empire Chinois, illustre´ d'apres des Dessins pris sur les Lieux

1845. PELLE, Clement and Thomas ALLOM. L'Empire Chinois, illustre d'apres des Dessins pris sur les Lieux. 4 Volumes. [4], 68, 26; 76; 74; 73, [3] pp., illustrated with 4 engraved added title-pages and 124 full page steel engraved plates. 4to, 275 x 214 mm., bound in publisher's elaborately decorated red cloth. Paris: Fisher, 1845. First edition in French, profusely illustrated with superb steel engravings after designs by Thomas Allom (1802-1872) executed by a number of master-engravers. The work also contains copies of Chinese drawings from Staunton's collection, executed by Captain Stoddard and others (reproduced in Alexander's The Costume of China, 1805). The study centers mainly on the south-east of China (Canton, Macao, Nanjing, Shanghai) although there are excellent images of Peking and Yehol. Of the greatest rarity in the splendid publisher's bindings and virtually free from the foxing that mars almost all copies.