ALBANIS-BEAUMONT (Jean-François). Travels from France to Italy, through the Lepontine Alps, or, An itinerary from Lyons to Turin, by the way of Pays-de-Vaud, the Vallais... London, G.G. and J. Robinson, 1800, folio, bound in green half-maroquin with corners, spine with ornate boxes, author and title gilt on spine, gilt fillets on covers, gilt head (modern binding). First edition, illustrated with a large folding map, a plan of the city of Lyon and 25 hors-texte views drawn by the author and engraved in aquatint. A superb copy with the map of Lyon and the 25 views in two states: sepia and coloured in watercolour. The two states are mounted facing each other, protected by a recent serpente. Minor foxing. Jean-François-Albanis Beaumont (near Chambéry 1753 - Sixt 1811), an engineer, first entered the service of the King of Sardinia before being recruited by the Duke of Gloucester to act as tutor to his son, whom he accompanied on numerous journeys throughout Europe, during which he visited the most interesting parts of the Alps. He then settled in Great Britain, where he married an Englishwoman. In 1796, having completed his mission, he returned to the continent and settled in the countryside near Geneva, where he experimented with breeding Merino sheep. Interested in mineralogy, he tried to reactivate abandoned coal and iron mines at Araches and Sixt. He died in Sixt without being able to capitalise on his considerable investments. Albanis Beaumont was a key figure in the discovery of the Alps at the end of the eighteenth century and during the First Empire. An attentive observer and excellent draughtsman, he published several large illustrated albums on the different parts of the Alps, as well as historical and geographical works. (See the note by Henri Mettrier published in "La Montagne" magazine on 20 September 1911). Perret 0333 - Regards sur les Alpes 25C - Waeber 212 - Abbey 53