CÉARD (Robert). Souvenirs of the Simplon works. Paris and Geneva, Abraham Cherbulliez and Imprimerie G. Fick, 1837. In-4°, half-basin binding, smooth spine decorated, gilt title on spine, initials H. A. at the foot, gift from the author to Mlle Htte d'Angeville in gilt letters on the first cover (accidents to the headpieces, crushed corners, rubbing) (period binding). First edition. Illustrated with a folding map and 29 hors-texte plates: 9 maps and plans and 20 views drawn and lithographed by Edouard Hostein (including the tomb of M. Céard which does not appear on the list of plates). A fine album published with the aim of rehabilitating the role of the engineer Nicolas Céard in the great Simplon project. It includes recollections of the work on the Simplon, notes on the plates and notes on the main works. Some foxing, hinges fragile. An exceptional copy dedicated by the author to Henriette d'Angeville, with her bookplate pasted on the flyleaf. Autograph signed letter from the author to Henriette d'Angeville. The copy is enriched with the autograph draft of a letter from Nicolas Céard to M. Crétet (2 pp.). Robert Céard was the son of Nicolas Céard (Saint-Martin-d'Arconville 1745 - Herry 1821), a French engineer who graduated from the Ecole Royale des Ponts et Chaussées. After contributing to the construction of the ports of Cherbourg, Le Havre and Honfleur, he was appointed chief engineer of the Ain département. After a spell in Switzerland during the Terror, he returned to France and became chief engineer of the new Léman department. Napoleon put him in charge of the Simplon Pass road, a colossal project carried out between 1801 and 1805. Edouard Hostein (1804-1889) was a French painter, draughtsman and lithographer. In particular, he contributed to the illustrations in Baron Taylor's Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l'ancienne France. Perret, 0889