On the Works of Albanis Beaumont (1747-1810), a key contribution to the establishment of the region of Nice as a favorite destination

Through his illustrated books featuring the region, Albanis Beaumont was as an early contributor establishment of the region of Nice, now known as the Côte d’Azur, as a destination for the wealthy and the curious of Great Britain. His were large-format works, presenting attractive and remarkably detailed scenes of the countryside and in particular views of the coast. Beaumont’s texts covered aspects of both ancient and natural history, topics of interest to the aristocracy of the period. Although well known in his time, Beaumont is today a forgotten figure and his works known to few, save collectors of rare books. Here first is presented a brief account of the unusual life of Albanis Beaumont and the equally unusual life of his artistic collaborator, Cornelius Apostool, the engraver who created many prints from Beaumont’s drawings. The biographies are followed by an ’exhibition’ of his works featuring views of the region including notes on their reception at the time. These are the 1787 "Voyage Historique et Pittoresque du Comté de Nice", the 1794 "Select Views of the South of France with Topographical and Historical Descriptions the 1795 "Travels through the Maritime Alps from Italy to Lyon across the Col de Tende, by the way of Nice, Provence, Languedoc, etc.", as well as the unauthorized translation of the 1787 work, published anonymously as "An Historical and Picturesque Description of the County of Nice" (1792).