Jean-Louis Desprez (1743-1804)

Baudicour's first state is before all letters, although no impression can be traced today. In the second state, such as the impressions in the British Museum and in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the print is inscribed Desprez inv. et Sculpt at lower left. The present impression does not bear this inscription. It does, however, show a very lightly etched inscription at lower left, which is illegible. It might be the inscription discovered by Victor Carlos on an impression in the Bonafous-Murat Collection, Paris, which he transcribed as the artist's signature followed by the words del Rom. Whether or not this is the case, there can be no doubt that the present impression was printed before the second state and is thus one of the earliest known. According to our records only two impressions of La Chimère, later states, have appeared at auction in the last three decades.