[CHOISEUL-GOUFFIER (Gabriel-Auguste de). Voyage pittoresque de la Grèce. Paris, J. J. Blaise, 1782-1822. 3 volumes in-folio, long-grained red morocco, wide gilt lace edged with a large roulette and sets of cold fillets, spine decorated with gilt and cold motifs, decorated spines, gilt inner roulette, gilt edges (Period binding). First edition. A masterpiece of copper engraving, the work is decorated with a portrait of the author engraved by Dien after Boilly, two double-page maps of ancient and modern Greece, 283 engravings printed on 168 plates outside the text, some of which are double-page, and attractive title vignettes, headbands and tailpieces. The plates, engraved with great finesse after drawings by Choiseul-Gouffier, Hilair and Moreau, consist mainly of views, maps and plans, but also of types, costumes, picturesque scenes, plans, sections and architectural details. The Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier made his first trip to Greece in 1776, aboard the frigate L'Atalante, commanded by the Marquis de Chabert. Appointed ambassador to Constantinople from 1784 to 1791, he was able to repeat his expeditions and discover Turkey. Publication of the work, interrupted by the Revolution, was resumed in installments from 1809. The third volume, compiled by two academicians, Barbié du Bocage and Lettrone, after Choiseul-Gouffier's death, contains a biographical note by M. Dacier. A superb copy in an elegant romantic binding in decorated morocco, produced when the third volume was published. The preliminary speech is in a second edition, in 12 pp. From the library of Croix de Croisilles, with bookplate. Discrete restorations to the headpieces and to the upper cover of the first volume, some foxing. Millard, n°51 - Cohen, 238 - Blackmer, n°342.