The stock
of prints and engravings of the diocesan house is important by its
quality, not by the quantity. It is specialized on Chartres and its
cathedral.
The
masterpiece of the collection is without any doubt the rare 1697
one's by Nicolas de Larmessin for the publisher of Chartres
Louis Mocquet, and known as
"Le
triomphe de la Sainte-Vierge dans l'église de Chartres"
"The
triumph of the Blessed-Virgin in the Chartres Church"
It
represents the chapel of "Our Lady of Underground" as it
could be seen prior to the French Revolution. The
center piece is surrounded by small illustrations of the "Virgini
Pariturae", the Virgo who must give birth, placed on
columns on both sides. Right
below it, the Holy Reliquary sustained by two angels, with the Holy
Skirt. In the lower part,
a view in perspective of the city of Chartres with three coat of
arms.
Another
remarkable engraving by Gaultier for the frontispiece of the "Parthénie"
from Rouillard, which restituted with simplicity the druids altar
dedicated to the "Virgini Pariturae" and the well of the
Strong Saints, roots for the cult toward "Our Lady of
Underground".
Another
masterpiece of the Library, is the famous "Monography of
Chartres Cathedral" by Lassus and Paul Durand, made of 72
different blocks published from 1842 to 1875 on public founds and
which are in perfect shape. The
cathedral can be viewed statue by statue, stain glass window
by stain glass window, in chromolithography, engraving and
heliography by the famous photograph Charles Nègre. Crypt
and upper level drawings are engraved with the most meticulousness
care. It's the artistic
and historic witness of the 19th century cathedral.
Some prints
have no link at all with the city :
-
"The
earthenware pot against the iron pot" which met more than
its match, illustration of one of the famous fable by Jean de La
Fontaine, published by the eldest Fournier and Perrotin in 1838
along with 120 other woodcut engravings by Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard,
more known under his pseudo JJ.Grandville.
-
Woodcut
engravings to color by hand, dated from the 18th century, and
representing butterflies, birds, plants and mammals
