Jean-Baptiste Debret

Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Bresil

1965 Limited Edition Reprint

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Description: For the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Rio de Janeiro in 1565, Brazil's largest publisher "Record" issued a rare comemorative edition of Debret's Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Bresil, a Facsimile copy of the original editon published by De Firmin Didot Freres in Paris in 1834, which today is very rare. The 1965 Record edition is also very rare, limited to only 960 three volume sets that were printed by lithograph by the Tosho Printing Company in Tokyo, Japan on a heavy hand laid paper about 300 weight with the watermark "J.B. Debret" seen when held to the light, one cut edge and three deckled edges, blank on the reverse. A copy of both the title page and the numbering page is included for authenticity, for more information click the link to see the Debret Title Pages. Overall, a rare print from the 1965 limited edition in excellent condition that would frame up beautifully!

Jean Baptiste Debret (1748-1825) was a student of David in the French Academy and traveled to Brazil in 1816 with the French Artistic Mission, basically bonapartists who had fallen out of favor in France after the defeat of Napoleon. Debret remained in Brazil from 1816-1831, recording most faithfully all aspects of Brazil from the flora and fauna to slavery and the royalty, leaving us a very important documentation of life in Imperial Brazil during the early 19th century. Upon his return to Paris, he put these prints together along with text in his remarkable Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Bresil, which today is an essential pictorial reference of the era. The original 1834 edition was also published in black and white and then later hand colored for an additional fee as was typical of bound illustrations of the period. During his stay, Debret produced many original watercolors and sketches, of which many were lost after the printing, although 360 were found in the possession of Debret's great-granddaughter and were purchased by Castro Maya and brought to Brazil, where they can now be seen in the Castro Maya Museum in Brazil.

Size: The image area measures approximately 8 1/2 by 13 1/2 inches (22x33cm) on a 14 by 21 1/2" (35x55cm) page with a very wide margin all around as seen in the pic.