Courvoisier
"Vue des Montagnes de Belleville près Paris"

Courvoisier. "Vue des Montagnes de Belleville près Paris."

Paris: Hocquart succ. de Basset, ca. 1827.  8 5/8 x 16. Engraving by Michon.  Full margins. Laid paper. Original hand color. Excellent condition.

An early 19th century vue d'optique, with a descriptive narrative in reverse at top and with brilliant hand color, this handsome engraved view of the "Russian" Mountains of Belleville, known to be the first roller coaster to lock the cars to the track, was an early 19th century attraction or amusement park near Paris.

A perspective view, or vue d’optique, is a special type of popular print published in England and on the continent during the eighteenth century.  These prints were a form of entertainment meant to be seen through devices called “optical machines,” “optiques,” or “peepshows,” often by candlelight, hence the need for bright hand color.