1880 at title page; stated Huitieme (Eighth) Edition.  Presented in the original French. Dark brown pebbled leather boards with blind-stamped borders, gilt spine title field with four additional patterned fields and four raised bands, moderate shelf wear, rub; now conditioned.  Pages generally very good; some fox at endpapers.  White silk moire endpapers.  Bright gilded page edges at all sides.  Bright green satin ribbon marker.  String-bind good; hinges intact.   Large 6 1/2" x 9 1/2 design.  Solid, substantial volume weighing 3 1/2 lbs.  Fine book craftsmanship.  Near very good rare example.  

Illustrated throughout w/full and partial page illustration by the famed Gustave Dore; over two hundred-fifty images.   An account of Taine's travels in the Pyrenees, along the coast, the vally of Ossau, the valley of Luz, Bagneres and Luchon.  Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 - 5 March 1893) was a French critic and historian and was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism. From introduction: "This, my dear Marcelin, is a trip to the Pyrenees; I have been there, and that is a praiseworthy circumstance; many writers, including some of the longest-winded, have described these scenes without leaving home.  

I have not been the first to scale any inaccessible mountain; I have broken neither leg nor arm; I have not been eaten by the bears; I have neither saved any English heiress from being swept away by the Gave, nor yet have I married one; I have not been present at a single duel; my experiences include no tragic encounter with brigands or smugglers. I have walked much, and talked a little, and now I recount the pleasures of my eyes and ears."   Typographie A Lahure, Rue de Fleurus, 9, Paris.   536 pages.   4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.    536 pages.   Insured post.