Reunion of 13 original drawings on vellum, preparatory to Lo - Lot 47

Reunion of 13 original drawings on vellum, preparatory to Louis Perret's large lithographed album, "Catacombes de Rome" (Paris, Gide et J. Baudry Éditeurs, 1851, 6 volumes). Plates executed in particular for volumes I (pl. 34 bis, 60, 72, 74, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81 and 82) and IV (Pl. 22). The set includes 12 pencil drawings (some with stump), and 1 watercolor, Indian ink and wash over pencil line. Notable subject: "Sainte-Hélène. Plan coupé longitudinale sur la ligne AB du cimetière de Sainte Hélène" (watercolor). Average sheet size: 60 x 45 cm (leaves). Condition B/C (foxing, soiling and traces of moisture). Set of 13 p. "Unable to enter the Prix de Rome competition, Savinien Petit owed the opportunity to discover the Eternal City to a government commission. In 1845, a commission made up of Ampère, Ingres, Mérimée and Vitet asked him to survey the catacombs to illustrate, in chromolithography, Louis Perret's "Catacombes de Rome", published in six volumes in 1851. Petit and Perret follow in the footsteps of Antonio Bosio's early work in the 16th century, continued in the 19th century by Séroux d'Agincourt and Padre Marchi (...), and precede by several years the publication of G.B. de Rossi (1822-1894), "Roma sotterranea cristiana" (1864-1877)." (Collective, "Savinien Petit: Le sentiment de la ligne, 1818-1878", exhibition catalog, Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy, June 16-Sept. 20, 2004, Paris, Artlys Editions, 2004, p.30.)