MOLINARD (Patrice) — GOUJON (Nicolas). Mont Saint-Michel. “C - Lot 187

MOLINARD (Patrice) — GOUJON (Nicolas). Mont Saint-Michel. “Couleurs du Monde” series. Paris, Les Éditions Mondiales, [1951]. Large quarto, publisher’s cardboard binding, with a color-illustrated dust jacket; 30 leaves, numerous black-and-white photographs, and several color plates. A beautiful photographic album dedicated to Mont Saint-Michel, illustrated with original photographs by Patrice Molinard. Text by Nicolas Goujon, photographs by Patrice Molinard, in the “Couleurs du Monde” collection, edited by Jean E. Imbert. The book offers both an architectural and a landscape-based exploration of Mont Saint-Michel: panoramic views from the bay, ramparts, the defensive system, convent buildings, the abbey church, and numerous details of Gothic architecture. The photographs alternate between black-and-white compositions and large-format color views, several of which are full-page. The bibliography from Librairie Touzot specifically lists this edition: Paris, Les Éditions Mondiales, 1951, 30 ff., four unnumbered pages of text, and black-and-white and color plates. Other institutional catalogs date it more cautiously to the 1950s. Patrice Molinard (1922–2002) belongs to that generation of postwar French photographers who revitalized photographic illustration of cultural heritage and travel. The volume’s appeal lies primarily in the quality of its compositions: certain highly graphic views of buttresses, staircases, flying buttresses, and walls clearly transcend the typical documentary nature of tourist albums from that era. This copy features its original illustrated photographic cover. The cover shows some scuffing, small tears, and marginal wear, particularly at the corners and flaps; the interior is in generally good condition. The book is unbound.

Estimate:£16.95

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