Print of steel engraving titled „Chateau de Sans-Souci (Haiti)“.

Drawn by Saison.

Engraved Beyer.

From „Voyage pittoresque dans les deux Ameriques. Resume general de tous les voyages“ by M. Alcide D‘Orbigny. Paris. 1836.

Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology.

The Sans-Souci Palace is a palace in Haiti in the town of Milot, Nord Department.It was the royal residence of King Henri I (better known as Henri Christophe) of Haiti, Queen Marie-Louise and their two daughters. It was the most important of nine palaces built by the king, as well as fifteen châteaux, numerous forts, and sprawling summer homes on his twenty plantations. Construction of the palace started in 1810 and was completed in 1813. Its name translated from French means "carefree." The nearest airport and large city is Cap-Haitien.Before the construction of Sans-Souci, Milot was a French plantation that Christophe managed for a period during the Haitian Revolution. Many of Henri Christophe's contemporaries noted his ruthlessness, and it is unknown how many laborers died during the palace's construction. Under his reign, the palace was the site of opulent feasts and dances. It had immense gardens, artificial springs, and a system of waterworks. Though Sans-Souci is now an empty ruin, at the time its splendor was noted by many foreign visitors. One American physician remarked that it had "the reputation of having been one of the most magnificent edifices of the West Indies."

Approx. image size 13 x 9, 2/17, 2 x 13, 6 cm.Condition: good.

Condition: good.