Paris, J. [L.] Boilly, 1821. Engraved broadsheet (36.3 x 27.3 cm).

A rarely-seen portrait of the French geographer, cartographer, and dean of the Faculty of Letters of the Paris University, Jean-Denis Barbié, known as Barbié du Bocage (1760-1825). Coming from a bourgeois family from Normandy, orphan of an architect and engraver father from the age of nine, he studied at the Mazarin college and worked for some time in the study of a prosecutor where he had been directed his mother who intended him for the bar, before becoming, in 1777, the only pupil of Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (1697-1782), the King's first geographer, member of the Académie des Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, and the Royal Academy of Sciences. In 1786, Barbié du Bocage enriched M. d'Anville's authoritative world map with new discoveries, mainly by French expeditions. The artist, Julien-Léopold Boilly (1796-1874) was noted for his album of lithographs, Iconographie de l'Institut royal de France ou collection des portraits des Membres composant les quatre académies depuis 1814 jusqu'en 1825 (1820-1825). His portraits are much less stiff and formal than many by his contemporaries. Signed by the artist in the lower margin of the portrait. The caption states the date of Barbié's birth and the year (1806) in which he was elected as a member of the Institut. Uncut. With in the lower right corner a small, oval blindstamp, 'Galerie Vivienne Bénard'. Scattered, mild foxing; some slight abrasion to the margins; otherwise very good.