CAMBRY (Jacques). - Lot 157

CAMBRY (Jacques). Monumens celtiques, ou Recherches sur le culte des pierres, précédées d'une Notice sur les Celtes et les Druides, et suivies d'Étymologies celtiques. Paris, Mme Johanneau, An XIII-1805. In-8, black half calf, spine decorated (modern binding). First edition, illustrated with 7 folding plates, 5 of which depict monuments from the Carnac site. Jacques Cambry (1749-1807), a historian and celtomane born in Lorient, was one of the first in France to disseminate the theory that megalithic monuments had a dual druidic and astronomical function (cf. Jean-Louis Brunaux, Les Druides. Des philosophes chez les Barbares). He was the founder of the Celtic Academy (1805), which contributed to the rehabilitation of Breton culture in the 19th century. Washed copy, corners of faux-titre reinforced.