BIARD, François Deux années au Brésil. Paris Hachette et Cie. 1862
8vo. (2) ff., 680 pp., 78 plates, illustrations in the text, 2 maps (1 folding). Original quarter red morocco. Some occasional spotting throughout the volume.
An attractive and lavishly illustrated book. (Biard) visited Brazil in 1860. In Rio he succeeded in ingratiating himself with the Emperor, who in turn commissioned him to paint his portrait, as well as that of several members of the Imperial family. Biard travelled through Espirito Santo and up to the River Amazon by way of the coastal cities . . . (He) was not known to posterity as a traveller or as a painter, but as the husband of the 'Belle Biard,' the famous Leonie d'Aunet who was Victor Hugo's titular mistress, inspiration of many of his love poems, and the cause of a famous romantic scandal involving the poet (Borba de Moraes). Il fut un des artistes les plus populaires de son temps. Il a énormement produit . . . (Bénézit, Vol. II). Borba de Moraes (1983) 106. Bosch, Brasilien-Bibliothek, 506. Sabin 4134. Berger, Bibl. do Rio de Janeiro (1980), 53. Garraux p. 33. Raeders 450.
£300
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