DRAWINGS - GENTIL (Captain). From the Seine to the Volga. Circa 1898. In-4 oblong, brown half-chagrin, spine ribbed (B. ep.). Unique album of 130 original drawings, including some fifteen unpublished ones, in Indian ink and watercolour (and one pastel), with handwritten, signed or monogrammed titles; all in various formats, mounted 1 or 2 to a card mounted on tabs: landscapes and figures, on the banks of the Loire, the Seine, the Volga, the Danube, etc. These drawings were made by infantry captain L. Gentil, based on photographs and documents by Paul Lancrenon for the second edition of his famous adventure story "Trois mille lieues à la pagaie, de la Seine à la Volga" (Plon, Paris, 1898). An artillery captain, photographer and adventurer, Paul Lancrenon sailed the Danube in the summer of 1889, and his account first appeared in 1890 under the title "D'Ulm à Belgrade, 1500 kilomètres en périssoire" (1890). This album was composed for Lancrenon himself, and the drawings are more numerous than in the book (which contains around 115) and presented in a different order. The last item is a handwritten poem, signed L. de Mondesy, entitled "L'Homme des grands fleuves", accompanied by a fine colour drawing: dated 31 December 1899, it is addressed to Captain Lancrenon. Also enclosed is a handwritten poem addressed to Lancrenon, dated 1 January 1912 and signed J. Spitz.