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RARE MILITARY SCHOOL ATLAS

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BRION [DE LA TOUR], [Louis]. Atlas, et Tables Élémentaires de Géographie, Ancienne et Moderne; adopté par plusieurs Écoles Royales Militaires. Nouvelle Édition.
Paris, J. Barbou, 1787. 8vo. With 20 numbered double-page engraved maps (15 x 17.5 cm), 6 wood-engraved head- and tailpieces and a wood-engraved ornament on the title-page, the maps coloured in outline. Modern marbled paper over boards.

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vi pp., "98" [= 100] cols. Karlsruher Virt. Kat. (2 copies); cf. NUC vol. 76, p. 57 (2 copies of 1777 ed. incl. 1 incomplete, & 1 copy of 1783 ed.); Phillips & LeGear 5989 (incomplete copy of 1777 ed.); Tooley, pp. 81-82 (1777 ed.); OCLC WorldCat (incomplete copy of 1777 ed.); not in IKAR.
Brion de la Tour's rare military school atlas, with twenty maps of the modern, classical and biblical world, each map accompanied by one to five pages of letterpress text providing information about the geography, topography, political and ecclesiastical divisions, etc. of the regions shown. A map of the world in two hemispheres is followed by a map of Europe and seven detail maps, four maps of the other continents, three biblical maps (New Testament lands, the twelve tribes of Israel and the Temple in Jerusalem) and a map of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in ancient times followed by three detail maps of parts of the Roman Empire.
Louis Brion de la Tour (1756-1823) first published his atlas himself in 1774, but the revised editions of 1777 and later were published by J. Barbou, famous as the printer of Pierre-Simon Fournier's Manuel Typographique in the 1760s and for his use of Fournier's types. The present 1787 edition shows that he was in the typographic vanguard two decades later, for while he still uses the old Fournier types for display and for the avertissement , the main text is set in an early form of the "modern" types made famous by Didot and Bodoni. Brion's name does not appear on the title-page, but a note below the list of maps included says they were drawn by "Brion" and engraved by "André."
In good condition, with only an occasional minor spot or stain, a tear at the fold in the first gathering, not affecting the text, and small marginal tears in three maps, one running one centimeter into the printed image. Good copy of a rare military school atlas.