Les Grands Crus Bordelais

1867. DANFLOU, Alfred. Les Grands Crus Bordelais. Monographies et Photographies des Chateaux et Vignobles. 2 volumes. 110; 106 pp., with 55 photographic plates (albumen prints, each 130 x 170 mm.), mounted on thick paper, surrounded by a red ornamental border, captions in red, titles printed in red and black. Folio, 357 x 275 mm., bound recent half morocco over boards, with the original wrappers preserved. Bordeaux: Goudin & Lavertujon, [1867].

A fine copy of this rare and important book relating to the history of wine: This is the first photographic book on the major wine-producing chateaux of Bordeaux. As the preface states: "Pour la première fois, l'art photographique aura été appliqué à reproduire ces constructions..." (p. vi). Apparently, this work is also the earliest photographic survey of any wine-producing region in France. The rarity of Danflou's Les Grands Crus Bordelais is attested by the fact that it was absent from Kilian Fritch's extensive collection of fine and rare books on wine. The author photographed 55 chateaux for this work and provided a brief history of each property. Insignificant marginal waterstains on the lower corners of the first 4 pages of volume one, but overall a remarkably well preserved copy. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, A New Art: Photography in the 19th Century, p. 303, no. 107. Berk, "A Toast to Antiquarian and Rare Wine Books" in: Biblio, p. 41.