Projet des embellissemens de la ville et fauxbourgs de Paris

3 parts in 3 volumes in-12, full marbled calf, Louis-Philippe d’Orléans’ coat of arms in the center of the covers, at the lower part of the upper covers the gilt mention “DE LA PART DE L’AUTEUR”, gilt roll-tooled border, smooth spine decorated, red morocco title label and green morocco volume numbering, endpapers of dominoté paper (stars and gilt dots), marbled edges. Armorial binding of the period. 163 x 95 mm. First edition. Presentation copy, including 3 frontispieces after Le Lorrain and Eisen.

Poncet de La Grave, Guillaume (1725-1803). Project for the embellishment of the city and suburbs of Paris. Paris: Duchesne, 1756.

Volume I: Title and 239 pp. Volume II: 224 pp. Volume III: 192 pp.

Magnificent presentation copy, offered by the author to Louis-Philippe d’Orléans.

Another presentation copy is known, the one offered to the Marquis de Marigny. The decoration of its binding was identical to this one, except for the coat of arms. The three engraved frontispieces are present only in the presentation copies, and are absent from regular copies.
The work is notable for having left most of the left-hand pages blank, so that the attentive reader could write their observations.
Among the recommendations of Poncet de La Grave, we can note, for example, the following, regarding Parisian public lighting: “the police, otherwise so perceptive, has therefore not reflected on the notable inconvenience resulting from a darkness, often very fatal in the streets of Paris, during the fine season. Is it not clear that when the nights are mild and the weather is serene, the bourgeois, occupied all day with their business, go out for part of the night to relax from the day’s fatigue? Does the darkness reigning in all the neighborhoods not then favor thieves and murderers? Could one, he concludes, oppose to such an urgent necessity, to so great a good, the expense required for the candles?” (vol. II, pp. 209, 211). Further on, he categorically affirms: “that it would be fitting to demolish the two pavilions of the College of Mazarin, which greatly constrain the Quai de Conti and hinder the public thoroughfare” (vol. I, p. 181)—a recommendation that, fortunately, would not be followed.

Under Louis XV, the first reflections on the embellishment of the capital appeared, but the works undertaken were far below the expectations of Parisians. L.S. Mercier echoes this in his work "The Year 2440, A Dream If There Ever Was One": “My century experienced the greatest difficulty at the slightest undertaking... We named the greatest things only in speculation and the pen seemed the universal instrument. Everything has its time. Ours was that of countless projects, yours is that of execution.”

Guillaume Poncet de La Grave (1725-1803) was a lawyer at the Parliament of Paris. He was passionate about the embellishment of the Capital and drafted projects for Paris. He was among the first to conceive of the improvement of the Capital as a whole and, in fact, in areas other than architecture. His projects concerned different places in Paris or various types of urban furniture and amenities the city should have (bridges, quays…) and their location in space. He developed a series of complete urban planning projects aimed at transforming places.

The embellishment of the capital was then meant to satisfy the needs of city dwellers. His attention to the poorest was part of this approach, proposing, for example, the construction of a retirement home for elderly laborers. His concerns were particularly innovative for the time, as he often proposed demolishing buildings to give the city more air. It would be necessary to wait for Haussmann to see such an approach actually realized.

The changes planned by Guillaume Poncet de La Grave were intended to be carried out, and he identified the financial means to execute these projects. He envisioned a system of taxation on property and people to fund a Treasury of Embellishments. Aware of the large sums needed, he considered the gradual implementation of projects according to their importance and necessity.

Poncet de La Grave had a comprehensive and ambitious vision of urban space, which was not shared by the public authorities of the time. Parisian officials intervened only occasionally in the management of the city. The public authorities and private interests only came together for limited operations. The major upheavals envisioned by Poncet de La Grave remained largely misunderstood and were dismissed by the authorities. They could not conceive a comprehensive urban project that would integrate multiple proposals into a coordinated action, not to mention finding the funds required for such large-scale construction. Neither the royal treasury nor that of the city could bear such expenses.

Poncet de La Grave’s book should have been dedicated to Marigny, the famous superintendent of buildings. The author intended to gain his support for his proposals, but the superintendent refused the dedication requested by the author so as not to give public approval or interfere with the decisions of the authorities of the time. The debate initiated by Poncet de La Grave would remain scholarly, without any real execution.

Poncet de La Grave chose a particular format for the printing of his work. The pages were only printed on the verso, leaving the recto blank so that readers could freely comment on his proposals and enrich a reflection that was meant to continue in the enlightened circles of the capital.

This subversive project for the time would remain a dead letter, being only a literary and philosophical text, an attractive utopia to delight readers, but far from the reformist aspirations of its author, who proposed solutions to urban dysfunctions. The definition of a new Parisian urbanism with a social vision useful to its inhabitants would have to wait before being realized.

Provenance: Poncet de La Grave; Louis-Philippe d’Orléans; Paul Lacombe; Baron Alexis de Rédé; Rothschild family.