Voyage Aux Pyrenees Illustratee par Gustave Dore (A Tour Through the Pyrenees Illustrated by Gustave Dore)

79, Boulevard Saint-Germain: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1880. 1880 at title page; stated Huitieme (Eighth) Edition. Presented in the original French. Dark brown pebbled leather boards with blind-stamped borders, gilt spine title field with four additional patterned fields and four raised bands, moderate shelf wear, rub; now conditioned. Pages generally very good; some fox at endpapers. White silk moire endpapers. Bright gilded page edges at all sides. String-bind good; hinges intact. Large 6 1/2" x 9 1/2 design. Solid, substantial volume weighing 3 1/2 lbs. Fine book craftsmanship. Near very good rare example. Illustrated throughout w/full and partial page illustration by the famed Gustave Dore; over two hundred-fifty images. An account of Taine's travels in the Pyrenees, along the coast, the vally of Ossau, the valley of Luz, Bagneres and Luchon. Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 - 5 March 1893) was a French critic and historian and was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism. From introduction: "This, my dear Marcelin, is a trip to the Pyrenees; I have been there, and that is a praiseworthy circumstance; many writers, including some of the longest-winded, have described these scenes without leaving home. I have not been the first to scale any inaccessible mountain; I have broken neither leg nor arm; I have not been eaten by the bears; I have neither saved any English heiress from being swept away by the Gave, nor yet have I married one; I have not been present at a single duel; my experiences include no tragic encounter with brigands or smugglers. I have walked much, and talked a little, and now I recount the pleasures of my eyes and ears." Typographie A Lahure, Rue de Fleurus, 9, Paris. 536 pages. Insured post.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good. Illus. by Dore, Gustave. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall.