Montpellier Agricultural School Farm Court, Antique Print, 1873

This antique print of the Montpellier agricultural school shows the farm court of the Ecole d'Agriculture de Montpellier in the Herault, drawn by V. Rose and lithographed by Deroy for the French agricultural album of the Vienna Exposition, 1873. The arcaded and pedimented main house stands at the center with low ranges down both sides of the yard. Figures are at work, one pushing a barrow, and a hill of the Midi rises in the distance.

It is a lively working view rather than a formal elevation, and it sits well with the album's views of the agricultural schools at Grignon and Grandjouan.

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 Montpellier 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 stains and handling marks are visible in the lower margin. 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.