The origin of this unusually large photogravure is not known. Perhaps it was made as some sort of tourist souvenir at the turn of the century. What makes this example particularly interesting is not only its size, but the fact that it is made to fold into quarters making it easily portable. The full sheet is cut down the vertical center and across the horizontal center. The four pieces are joined with lightweight bookbinding cloth which enables the large sheet to be ‘collapsed’ into the smaller, more portable size. (illustrated here with the seams removed digitally)

Societe D’Edition Artistique (left) Depose (center) Pavillon de Hanovre, Paris (right) PARIS (top)