Gustave Eiffel’s Book “The Eiffel Tower in 1900”, Signed by Him to a Famous Automobile Manufacturer

In 1889, Paris hosted an Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) to mark the 100-year anniversary of the French Revolution. More than 100 artists submitted competing plans for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars, located in central Paris, and serve as the exposition’s entrance. The commission was granted to Eiffel et Co., a consulting and construction firm owned by the acclaimed bridge builder, architect and metals expert Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. The final design called for more than 18,000 pieces of wrought iron and 2.5 million rivets. Several hundred workers spent two years assembling the framework of the iconic lattice tower, which at its inauguration in March 1889 stood nearly 1,000 feet high and was the tallest structure in the world.

Originally intended as a temporary exhibit, the Eiffel Tower was almost torn down and scrapped in 1909. City officials opted to save it because of its value as a radiotelegraph station, and it’s a good thing they did. Today, the Eiffel Tower is considered the symbol of France, and attracts more visitors than any other paid tourist attraction in the world.

In 1902, Gustave Eiffel wrote a book about his famous tower entitled “The Eiffel Tower in 1900”. In it, he discussed in detail  the origins of the tower, the procedures, mechanics and expense of erecting it, and its place in the Paris Expositions of 1889 (at which it was unveiled) and 1900. The 363 page book is profusely illustrated with scores of illustrations and technical graphs in and out of text, a large color foldout map, a frontispiece gravure photograph showing the tower in 1900, an etched portrait of Eiffel, and two gravure photographs taken from the Eiffel Tower (of Notre-Dame and the Panthéon). It was upon publication, and remains, the best  – and indeed the indispensable – book on the Eiffel Tower. However, it is quite uncommon to find a copy.

This is a first edition of the oversize book, with its commanding and copious illustrations, in French and published in Paris in 1902 by Masson & Cie. It is bound in the original publisher’s stamped wine-colored percaline, gilt stamped title to spine and front board. The book is inscribed and signed by Eiffel to M. Bonton, “En remerciement de ma visite à la belle usine de Dion-Bonton, le 5 mai 1902′ [“With thanks for the visit to the beautiful factory of Dion-Bonton, May 5, 1902“].

Georges Bouton was a French engineer who founded the automobile and railcar company De Dion-Boutin in 1883. He was the winner of the world’s first motor race on April 28, 1887, when he drove a de Dion-Bouton vehicle 2 kilometers in Paris. De Dion-Bouton was, at the time of the present inscription, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world.