Recueil de decorations interieures, ...

1812. PERCIER, C. & P.F.L. FONTAINE. Recueil de décorations intérieures, comprenant tout ce qui a rapport a l'Ameublement... [1], 43, [1] pp., illustrated with 72 engraved plates. Folio, 433 x 225 mm., bound in nineteenth-century half red morocco over marbled boards. Paris: P. Didot L'Ainé, 1812. Second edition. The second edition is expanded with text (no text included in the first edition) and with an additional 30 full-page engraved plates showing examples of the Empire style. A rare clean copy of this key document of the Empire Style written by the two architects who were largely responsible for its creation. Napoleon commissioned them to design the interior and supply the furnishings for his apartments at the Louvre, the Tuileries, Malmaison, Fontainebleau, St. Cloud, and Compiègne. Thomas Hope acknowledged their influence in the bibliography to his "Household Furniture". Also important for students of the Empire style in America, in relation to the actual pieces designed by Lannuier, Joseph Brauwers, John Greuz, and Querville. Despite some marginal foxing on just a couple of plates, this is an exceptional unwashed copy of a scarce and important book, which is nearly always found with heavy spotting and foxing. Berlin Katalog 4056. Fowler 244. Cicognara 605.