TURGOT, Michel-Étienne (1690-1751) and Louis BRETEZ (1685-1765). Plan de Paris commencé l'année 1734. Paris: Levé et dessiné par Louis Bretez, gravé par Claude Lucas, 1739.

One of the world’s most extraordinary feats of cartography. In addition to its huge decorative appeal, Turgot’s celebrated plan of Paris is important for providing a remarkably detailed snapshot of the pre-Haussmann city. Alongside the city’s great churches, public buildings, and monuments, Turgot’s plan gives fascinating inklings of the daily life of the 18th-century metropolis: a flotilla of small working boats crowds the Seine and windmills dot the surprisingly rural landscape that surrounds the compact built-up area, a landscape soon to disappear under later 18th- and 19th-century expansion. A staggering technical achievement of representation and perspective, conceived nearly half a century before the first manned balloon flight. Berlin Kat. 2506; Millard French 39.

Folio (552 x 422mm). Folding double-page index map and very large perspective plan on 20 numbered double-page sheets by Claude Lucas after Louis Bretez; sheets 18 and 19 joined and folded with title in elaborate figural cartouche (some light spotting and staining mostly around the margins, closed tear at fold of index map). Contemporary French red morocco with gilt arms of Paris (a few stains and worn areas with loss).