Large 8vo (170 x 242 mm). 11 parts, each bound in with original blue front wrapper. Bound in contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards; spine decorated with dolphin ('dauphinoise') motifs. Extra-illustrated with 3 mounted newspaper articles on Chaper and his collection; a full-page mounted lithographed portrait of Chaper dated 1873; an old dealer's description of the volume; and a loose blue notecard (2 pp.) signed by Chaper and dated 8/8/88 seemingly on the subject of a new carriage. Contents perfectly fresh and delightfully preserved. Consisting of: - 1) Chaper, Eugène. L. Ybot poète et comédien dauphinois. Grenoble, Edouard Allier et Fils, 1870. 11 pp. "Tiré à 50 exemplaires". Faint autograph of Victor Colomb (see below) on front wrapper. - 2) Arnaud, Eugène. Notice historique et bibliographique sur les imprimeurs de l'académie protestante de Die en Dauphiné au XVIIe siècle. Grenoble, Edouard Allier et Fils, 1870. 36 pp. "Tiré à 225 exemplaires". - 3) Arnaud, Eugène. Notice sur les controverses religieuses en Dauphiné pendant la période de l'Édit de Nantes. Grenoble, Edouard Allier Fils, 1872. 64 pp. "Tiré à 225 exemplaires". - 4) [Chaper, Eugène]. Notes sur François Marc jurisconsulte dauphinois et sur Anemond Amabert imprimeur à Grenoble au XVIe siècle. Par un bibliophile dauphinois. Vienne, E.-J. Savigné, 1877. (4), 9 pp., including frontispiece facsimile of a large printer's mark. "Tiré à 50 exemplaires". - 5) [Chaper, Eugène]. Notice historique et bibliographique sur Antoine et Pierre Baquelier citoyens de Grenoble et les ouvrages qu'ils ont publiés au XVe et au XVIe siècles. Par un vieux bibliophile dauphinois. Grenoble, F. Allier Père et Fils, 1885. 57 pp. "Tiré à 225 exemplaires". - 6) [Chaper, Eugène]. Notes sur les thèses illustrées dauphinoises. Par un vieux bibliophile dauphinois. Grenoble, F. Allier Père et Fils, 1886. 48 pp. "Tiré à 125 exemplaires". Autograph presentation inscription from Chaper on front wrapper. - 7) Arnaud, Eugène. Supplément à la notice historique et bibliographique sur les imprimeurs de l'académie protestante de Die en Dauphiné au XVIIe siècle. Grenoble, Joseph Allier, 1886. 10 pp. "Tiré à 175 exemplaires". - 8) Arnaud, Eugène. Supplément à la notice sur les controverses religieuses en Dauphiné pendant la période de l'Édit de Nantes. Grenoble, Joseph Allier, 1886. 14 pp. "Tiré à 175 exemplaires". - 9) Maignien, Edmond. Recherches sur les cartiers et les cartes à jouer à Grenoble. Grenoble, Joseph Allier, 1887. 34 pp. plus 10 plates (of which 5 colour-printed and 3 folding). "Tiré à 200 exemplaires". - 10) Rochas, Adolphe. Notice bibliographique et historique sur Auguste Boissier poète patois de Die. Grenoble, Joseph Allier, 1887. 24 pp. "Tiré à 100 exemplaires". Signature of Chaper on upper margin of half-title. - 11) Colomb, Victor. Notice biographique et bibliographique sur M. Adolphe Rochas conservateur de la bibliothèque et du musée de la ville de Valence. Grenoble, Allier, 1890. 18 pp. "Tiré à 150 exemplaires". - Extremely rare complete series - and a charmingly bibliophilic copy - of this short-lived bibliographical journal evincing the development of a small, provincial circle of bibliophiles and bibliographers in the Dauphiné region of France. Evidently spearheaded by Chaper, who authored many of the first issues, the articles suggest a capable degree of scholarship and later issues are even elaborately-illustrated. Some of the earliest parts were issued in runs as small as 50 copies, according to the versos of the title-pages. - Camille-Eugène Chaper (1827-90) was a highly decorated military officer who, following his retirement from public life in 1875, devoted himself to his twin passions of regional bibliography and the management of mining operations. His collection of Dauphinoise imprints and authors (i.e., those of the former province of Dauphiné, capital Grenoble) was unrivalled, and he donated much material to the Bibliothèque de Grenoble. It is also recorded that he was particularly scrupulous about the provenance of his books and manuscripts, and if in any doubt about the propriety of an offering, he had the courage to steer clear of it. - The present example was evidently compiled with care by an admirer of Chaper - quite likely one of the authors mentioned above. OCLC shows a few US holdings of individual parts (eg. #9, on the printed playing-cards of the Grenoble region), but as far as we can tell, only the NYPL holds a complete run. Vicaire, Manuel de l'Amateur de Livres du XIXème Siècle I: 606-607 (giving an extremely detailed collation of all 11 parts); cf. also, e.g., the obituary in the Annales du Midi: revue archéologique, historique et philologique de la France méridionale (1891), pp. 129-131.
