Souvenirs Pittoresques des Glaciers de Chamouny

Gabriel Charton – 1821

Souvenirs Pittoresques des Glaciers de Chamouny was the very first illustrated
guide for those who desired to travel the road from Geneva to Chamonix. Just a
handful of copies were published in Geneva in 1821. It is, no doubt, the most
rare of all Alpine books, now published in facsimile.

The original French text, also now translated into English, provides a lively
and descriptive account of the route, accompanying the series of 19 delightful
views that lead the traveller to their destination. Demonstrating the
different techniques of aquatint and lithography, each was delicately and
skilfully coloured by the hand of an accomplished artist, perhaps Charton
himself, and this fine and time consuming undertaking is very likely to have
made the book too expensive for further production at the time.

128 pages right hand only including 19 full page coloured plates, each with
description in English and French.