The Revolutionary Calendar presented to the National Convention c1792-1973
[FRENCH REVOLUTION]; LEFEVRE, J.F. The Revolutionary Calendar Presented to the National Convention, 1792.
Calendrier National calcule pour 30 ans et presente a la Convention Nationale en Decembre 1792. Paris, chez la Citoyenne Lesclapart, libraire et marchande d'estampes, rue du Roule, n.d. [1792-1793].
Large engraved revolutionary wall chart, 565 x 400 mm. Engraved by Vallet. Printed on thick laid paper with visible chain lines and watermark. Old horizontal and vertical folds as issued. Light scattered foxing and minor toning. Small old paper reinforcements to the verso at fold intersections. Unbacked. A very good and well preserved example.
An elaborate engraved chart explaining the newly proposed national calendar of the French Republic. The work was prepared by the republican J. F. Lefevre and presented to the National Convention in December 1792 as a rational calendrical system calculated for thirty years. The large semicircular table provides a chronological framework while the central roundel reproduces the preamble and articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Allegorical figures representing Liberty, Justice, Population and other civic virtues surround the composition, reflecting the ideological programme of the new Republic.
The sheet combines political instruction with scientific and educational material. A diagram of the Copernican planetary system appears in the upper left, while below is a table of the distances and revolutions of the planets. Additional statistical tables list the departments of France with their capitals, population and surface area. Chronological tables, civic allegories and explanatory texts transform the sheet into a comprehensive revolutionary wall chart.
Large engraved revolutionary charts of this type were produced for display in schools and civic buildings during the early years of the Republic. Their size and utilitarian function mean that relatively few examples have survived intact. Examples appear only rarely on the market, with the last appearing at auction in 2016.