Grandjouan Agricultural School, Antique French School Print, 1873

This antique print of the Grandjouan agricultural school shows the main building of the Ecole d'Agriculture de Grandjouan in the Loire-Inferieure, drawn by H. Gobin and lithographed by Deroy for Lemercier for the French agricultural album of the Vienna Exposition, 1873. The long main building is seen across its formal gardens, with a lantern turret over the center and pavilions at each end.

With the views of Grignon and Montpellier it forms part of the album's record of the French agricultural schools, and it will appeal to anyone with a connection to the Loire-Inferieure or an interest in the history of agricultural education.

The sheet comes from the folio of maps, plans and drawings that the Direction de l'Agriculture of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce assembled for its own exhibit at the Exposition Universelle held in Vienna in 1873, printed in Paris by the Imprimerie Nationale. The album gathered the statistical cartography, the model state farms, the breed portraits and the prize silver by which France meant to present its agriculture to the world. Its thematic maps belong to the first generation of printed statistical mapping, a field now collected for the history of data visualisation quite as much as for the history of farming.

The print is a lithograph, issued in 1873. It is uncolored. This antique print of the Grandjouan agricultural school would suit a study, library or office, and it will appeal to collectors of French architectural views and of agricultural or veterinary history.

The sheet is in good condition, with age toning, scattered foxing and minor marginal discoloration. Faint spotting and handling marks are visible in the margins. The toning is the ordinary result of age rather than damage. Please see the images for a full view of the condition.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.