Falconnet, Louis

Description

Includes 37 albumen prints, 31 watercolor drawings (some col.), 16 pencil drawings, 7 pen & ink drawings, 4 hand-drawn maps, 9 wood engravings, 3 lithographs, 1 cloth sample, ca. 10 handwritten texts, 1 handwritten letter, and 1 printed text.Title from cover.Photographers include Pestel, E.L., and François Aubert.This album was assembled by Louis Falconnet, an officer in the French army, from documentation he created or gathered while on his tour of duty in Mexico (1864-1866) at the time of the French intervention. Arranged in roughly chronological order (his full itinerary is included at the beginning of the album), it is unusual among examples of albums compiled by French officers in Mexico in that Falconnet's main focus is on indigenous Mexican cultures and people, rather than on military exploits. In fact, the events of the French intervention that are recorded in the album all occurred either before (e.g., the battle of Camarón) or after (e.g., the execution of Emperor Maximilian) Falconnet's time in Mexico. The album is illustrated throughout with drawings in Falconnet's hand, as well as with photographs and graphics by others, most of the latter published commercially.The first leaf shows a full-length studio portrait of a man, presumably Falconnet, in civilian dress; the caption describes him as being employed in the cabinet of Maximilian. An inscription (headed "Pensée") on the following leaf is a brief paean to the land of Mexico, setting the tone for the album. Falconnet's documentation begins with the sea voyage from France to Veracruz, Mexico, and...

Record Contributed By

Getty Research Institute

Record Harvested From

J. Paul Getty Trust