Jean-Rodolphe PERRONET (1708-1794) Collection of engraved plates for the description of the projects and construction of the Bridges of : Neuilly, Mantes, Nogent, Ste Maxence, Château-Thierry, bridge of the fountains in Chantilly, canal bridge of Avroi, Brunois, Rozoy on the road to Paris, bridge planned to be built in St-Petersburg on the Neva river, d'Orléans, Melun, Louis XVI bridge (de la Concorde) and the Salpétrière in Paris, Massy... A vol. in-plano, under cardboard. On strong paper with text in engraved frames, portrait of the author after C.N. Cochin by Auguste de Saint-Aubin and 73 magnificent pl. (often double-page or folded, numbered 1 to 73). Blunt cuts; wet spots and stains, tears, galleries of verses. The original edition of this description of bridges and various works dates from 1782-1783 with a supplement in 1789. M. Perronet, knight of the King's Order, architect and first engineer for bridges and roadways, was the initiator of the great public works which in the 18th century enabled the economic development of France. He remained famous above all for his technical innovations in the construction of bridges whose thinner piers offered less resistance to the flow of water: the Concorde bridge in Paris, the Neuilly bridge, the Sainte-Maxence bridge over the Oise, the Loing bridge in Nemours, etc.