THE BISSON BROTHERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS. - Lot 191

THE BISSON BROTHERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS. From Spire to Summit, 1840–1870. Bibliothèque nationale de France – Museum Folkwang. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1999. Large quarto, publisher’s illustrated cardboard binding. A major catalog of the exhibition organized jointly by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Museum Folkwang in Essen, dedicated to the brothers Louis-Auguste Bisson (1814–1876) and Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (1826–1900), leading figures in French photography during the Second Empire. Though long overshadowed by Le Gray, Nadar, and Baldus, the Bisson brothers were nonetheless among the most brilliant practitioners of their generation. After producing their first daguerreotypes, they founded the famous Maison Bisson Frères in Paris, whose very large-format prints were acclaimed at international exhibitions and awarded numerous medals. This book traces their entire career through more than two hundred reproductions of original prints preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It particularly highlights their two areas of excellence: the photographic campaigns dedicated to the great monuments of France and Europe—cathedrals, ancient buildings, and Renaissance monuments—as well as their extraordinary Alpine expeditions, during which they produced the first high-mountain photographs, even reaching the summit of Mont Blanc twice (1861 and 1862) with their heavy photographic equipment. Bringing together contributions from several specialists, this catalog is now the definitive reference work on the Bisson brothers and, more broadly, on the golden age of French photography between 1840 and 1870. Condition: Very good copy.