Les Vitraux de la Cathédrale de Chartres

Item Details

Chartres, E. Houvet, 1926, Hardcover

Very Good

Four volumes. Text volume (French) and three plate volumes. Patterned publisher's cloth with gilt titles to spines. Quartos. Text volume [xx] 532 and errata sheet. Plate volumes with 10 color plates tipped in, eighteen color plates and 284 b/w plates of the stained glass windows of the Chartres Cathedral. 

Etienne Houvet was a guide at the cathedral. He had the ingenious idea of bringing all of the stained glass windows within everyone’s reach using photography, so he built a rolling wooden tower that enabled him to take the pictures under the best possible conditions, which he then developed himself. Canon Delaporte taught him an original way of taking photographs, by applying a sensitive plate directly to the stained glass. He published several monographs on the cathedral. Expertly advised and assisted by Canon Delaporte, the photos were magnificently accompanied by texts that allowed readers to enter the mysteries of Chartres’ treasures. The French Republic also honored him during his lifetime, awarding him the rank of Chevalier in the Order of the Legion of Honor.