Mounted Woodburytype. Photograph: 24x19 cm (9½x7½"); sheet: 34x24.6 cm (13½x9¾"). Matted.

Antoine Gustave Droz (1832-1895), author, French man of letters and son of the sculptor Jules-Antoine Droz (1807–1872), was born in Paris. An iconic photo from the Galerie Contemporaine (1876-84) by Félix Nadar (1820-1910), a high point in photographic publishing. The series contained Woodburytype portraits of leading figures in France by some of the world's leading photographers.

Each issue of the series comprised a biographical essay and accompanying portrait, reproduced in Woodburytype and printed by Goupil (and for the final volume, a successor firm). Published in two concurrent sections or series—a first series “Littérateurs, Musicians, Etc.” and a second series “Peintres et Sculpteurs,” generally appeared on alternate weeks.  The full run amounted to a total of 241 portraits issued in 13 volumes. The photographs differed notably, inasmuch as those in the first series (included in this catalogue) were each represented by a large format, full-page portrait “hors texte” (an image printed on paper of especially high quality) generally 24X18 cm, within an ornamental border. In contrast, the subjects in the second series were represented by smaller portraits, on average 12 x 8 cm., mounted within the text.