L'Algerie. Histoire, Conqu�te et Civilisation. por GAFFAREL, Paul

Paris: Librairie de Firmin-Didot et Cie. 1883.. FIRST EDITION. 4to. (28 x 19 cm). Half-title, title, pp.ii+708. Publisher's elaborately gilt red morocco, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. 4 full-page chromolithographed plates with tissue-guards (including frontispiece), 3 colour-printed folding maps at rear, 22 wood-engraved plates, and over 200 wood engravings in the letterpress. Ownership stamp in red of G. Chambron to f.f.e.p. A superb copy. First edition of this substantial work, in the most lavish form of the available publisher's bindings. Paul Gaffarel (1843-1920), French historian, was on faculty of Letters at Dijon, and wrote a number of works on French colonial interests, including in the Americas. The chromolithographs were executed by Nordmann after paintings by Legrand based on designs by Waret and Garcia. The engravings are from a variety of sources.