In 1684, Brice put the knowledge he had acquired into practice and published his first travel guide on his hometown: ''Description de la ville de Paris et de tout ce qu'elle contient de plus remarquable.
The book immediately became a bestseller and is considered one of the first travel guides ever. Part of the success was certainly the beautiful copperplate engravings that Brice incorporated into his travel guide from the fifth edition (1706) to illustrate the text. For this Brice hired the best engravers and draftsmen of his time such as: Jean Chaufourier, Antoine Hérisset (1685–1769), Ferdinand Delamonce (1678–1753), Claude Lucas (1685–1765), Antoine Aveline, Gérard Jean-Baptiste Scotin (1671–1716) and his son Gérard Jean-Baptiste Scotin le jeune'' (1698–1755). These engravings were often later removed from the books to be hung on the wall as framed pictures. The last edition of 1752 includes forty-one engravings, including the folding plan of Paris.
Thiéry, du Breul and Le Maire with the
Seine and the
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris in the distance in Germain Brice's travel guide, seventh edition, published in 1717. However, even before Brice published his travel guide, Jacques du Breul (1528–1614), a French Benedictine monk from the
Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, had already published a book in the same sense, titled ''Théâtre des antiquités de Paris, où est traité de la fondation des églises et chapelles de la cité, Université, ville et diocèse de Paris, comme aussi de l'institution du Parlement, fondation de l'Université et collèges, et autres choses remarquables'' in 1612. And also after Brice's first publication, it was Charles Le Maire with his book ''Paris ancient et nouveau – Ouvrage très curieux ou l'on voit la fondation, les accroissemens, le nombre des habitants, & des Maisons de cette grand Ville,'' published in 1685, who wrote a book in a similar style. Another author who wrote about Paris and its prestigious buildings was
Luc-Vincent Thiéry. He was the author of the ''Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou Description raisonnée de cette Ville, de sa Banlieue, et de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable,
published in 1787. However, in addition to the sights, Thiéry focused on the hôtels particuliers'' with a particular focus on their interiors and collections. Thiéry's described tours in these private houses amount to guided tours. His reports are like an inventory. He meticulously describes where which picture hangs or which piece of furniture is in which room, who made it or what its provenance is, as he did when he visited the
Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour in the time of
Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt. In comparison to Brice, Thiéry does not mention the external architectural features of the Baron de Besenval's residence at all. His focus is exclusively on the baron's valuable furniture as well as his porcelain and art collection.
The splendour of Paris in Germain Brice's travel guide, seventh edition, published in 1717. The new entrance portal for the
Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour was designed by the architects Moreillon & Taillens in 1939, based on the design of the entrance portal of the Hôtel de Soubise. By comparing the three similar publications by Germain Brice, Jacques du Breul and Charles Le Maire, the writer
Michel Félibien, author of the five-volume
Histoire de la Ville de Paris, points out:
"Germain Brice is more brilliant and active than the other two." And Félibien goes on:
"Germain Brice brings new splendour to the capital of the kingdom every day with his often reprinted descriptions." From the very beginning, Brice knew how to include in his publication those sights and inside stories that aroused great interest among his readers. This also explains the great success of the publication, which was published in nine editions over a period of over 100 years. The travel guide featured amongst others: Royal palaces, churches, places, public buildings and
hôtels particuliers such as: The
Louvre, the
Palais des Tuileries, the
Palais-Royal, the
Palais du Luxembourg, the
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, the
Église Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais de Paris, the
Place Royale, the
Place de Louis le Grand, the
Sorbonne-Université, the
Hôtel de ville de Paris, the
Hôtel Royale des Invalides, the
Hôtel de Soubise, the
Hôtel de Nevers and the
Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour.
The final edition of the seventh edition of Germain Brice's travel guide, published in 1717. This is a special print of this edition. It is dedicated to
August Wilhelm, Herzog von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and shows the coat of arms of the ducal house of the
Herzogtum Braunschweig-Lüneburg. It wasn't difficult for Germain Brice to find a publisher for his publication. The travel guide sold extremely well and the publishers also made good money from it. While the first edition consisted of 565 pages, the number rose to over 2000 pages in the final edition (1752). The final edition moved away from the original intention of being a travel guide to Paris and became a guide for art lovers, detailing the artistic wealth of Paris. It was the age of the
Grand Tour and in particular the British
Jeunesse dorée, the children of the
aristocracy and the
landed gentry, were stocking up on art knowledge in continental Europe, but also on works of art for their town mansions and
country houses. Brice's travel guide provided the background information.
Year of publication and publisher of Brice's travel guide • 1684: Nicolas Le Gras • 1687: Nicolas Le Gras or Jean Pohier • 1698: Nicolas Le Gras, Nicolas Le Clerc, Barthelemy Girin • 1701: Nicolas Le Gras, Nicolas Le Clerc, Barthelemy Girin • 1706: Nicolas Le Gras, Michel & Augustin Brunet • 1713: François Fournier • 1717: François Fournier • 1725: François Fournier, Julien-Marie Gandouin • 1752: Jean-Thomas Hérissant, P.-G. Le Mercier Desaint & Saillant, Durand, Le Prieur == Gallery of engravings in Germain Brice's travel guide, seventh edition, published in 1717 ==