HOFFBAUER (Fedor) Paris through the ages. Aspects successifs des monuments et quartiers historiques de Paris depuis le XIIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours. Paris: Librairie de Firmin Didot et Cie, 1875-1882. - 2 volumes in-folio, red half-maroquin with corners, gilded fillets, ornate ribbed spine, gilded head, untrimmed (period binding). First edition of one of the finest 19th-century books on the history of Paris. Published in installments, this work comprises two volumes of texts specially written for the book by Édouard Drumont, Anatole de Montaiglon, Édouard Fournier, Alfred Bonnardot, Jules Cousin, Abbé Valentin Dufour, Paul Lacroix, Ch. Jourdain, Alfred Franklin and Lazare-Maurice Tisserand. These texts, printed on a tinted background, explore the most picturesque and historically interesting places in Paris, including the Hôtel de Ville, the Louvre, the Châtelet, the Cimetière des Innocents, the Bastille, the Tour de Nesle, the Pointe de la Cité, and many others. The rich illustrations include numerous woodcuts in the text, a reproduction of the plan of Paris under Henry II by Olivier Truschet and Germain Hoyau, 23 plates of plans of old Paris, and 68 color lithographs based on drawings by architect Fedor Hoffbauer. These lithographs offer a view of Lutetia and the various districts of Paris described in the volumes, presented from the same point of view, ranging from the Middle Ages or the 16th century to the time of publication. Each plan of ancient Paris is accompanied by a transparent paper showing the equivalent of the Paris map at the time of the book, allowing the reader to appreciate the city's evolution over time. A good copy in contemporary binding, fully mounted on tabs. Some light wear. Scattered foxing. Perforation affecting the frame and margin of pages 3-4 and 41-42 of the Notre-Dame section in the first volume.