P.P.1931.peg, 1

Imprint: Paris. Ludovic Baschet. Éditeur. 126 boulevard Magenta, 126. 1876[-77].

Two volumes, uniformly bound in quarter leather and red buckram (British Museum binding), measuring 352 x 287 mm, with coat of arms in gilt on upper and lower boards. The two volumes comprise the 'Premier semestre' (prints 1-39) and the 'Deuxième Semestre' (prints 40-78) for the first year (1876) of the series, containing portraits of distinguished figures from the arts, sciences and politics, reproduced in carbon and woodburytype, guard-mounted on card, with accompanying biographical notes and facsimile specimens of the subjects’ handwriting. The livraison wrappers, in which the parts were originally issued, are bound in at the end of each volume. This part-work, edited by Gaston Schéfer, was issued weekly in two concurrent series, as the publisher's advertisement explains: 'La Galerie Contemporaine, Littéraire, Artisique, is composed of two parts, alternating each week: one giving every fortnight the biography of the most renowned modern artists, the other the biography of the most famous writers, musicians, etc ... Each part ... which will annually form a splendid album, contains a magnificent photographic print ... mounted on card ... generally representing the work which made the artist's reputation. For the writers, musicians, etc., a large portrait mounted on card will be given.' In the case of the painters, where an example of their work forms the main picture, a smaller portrait of the artist is mounted on the facing page. These smaller images appear to have been produced in woodburytype rather than carbon, although it is difficult to be absolutely certain. Although the overall title page supplies a date of 1876, the photographs themselves span a much wider period: many of the Nadar portraits included date from the early- to mid-1860s and one at least of the portraits cannot have been issued earlier that late 1877 (print 2, where the letterpress states that the subject had died in September 1877).