![[AMERICAN PRISONS] DEMETZ, FREDERIC-AUGUSTE and BLOUET, GUILLAUME-ABEL. Rapports a M. Le Comte de Montalivet, Pair de France, Ministre Secretaire d'Etat . sur les Penetenciers des Etats-Unis.](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/829/1506829.jpg?itok=MFvoUK4d)
Lot Details
Lot 4
[AMERICAN PRISONS] DEMETZ, FREDERIC-AUGUSTE and BLOUET, GUILLAUME-ABEL. Rapports a M. Le Comte de Montalivet, Pair de France, Ministre Secretaire d'Etat . sur les Penetenciers des Etats-Unis.
Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1837. First edition. Contemporary French calf over marbled boards, the spine tooled and lettered in gilt, pink marbled endpapers. 13 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (34.5 x 22 cm); [4] 144; 114 [1] pp., with half-title and 45 lithographed plates and views (all but two folding). The plates and text very clean, the boards and spine rubbed, a fine copy overall.
A remarkable look at early 19th century American prisons with excellent plates and views, the first European work to illustrate the subject, and of great influence on French prisons thereafter. The work profiles some of the most storied prisons of the era such as New York's infamous Sing-Sing and Auburn prisons, and others in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Baltimore, etc. The plates offer artistic views of the grounds, details of locks and plans of the prison floors. The work compares the two dominant methods of imprisonment at the time: the communal versus isolation models. Divided into two parts, Demetz's portion offers many statistics on American prisons and prisoners while Blouet's portion provides the illustration of the prisons and their various attributes. A fascinating work. Sabin 19475.
C Private Collection of Barbara and Ira Lipman
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