The world is mourning the fire-ravaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Built over a 200-year period between 1163 and 1345, the cathedral has periodically lapsed into disrepair over the centuries. Here are photographs taken in the 1860s, when photography was a new medium and the cathedral’s spire had been recently restored.
Facade of Notre-Dame de Paris. Photograph by Edouard Baldus. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
View from spire of roofs, statuary, and gable. Photo by Charles Marville, ca. 1860. Prints and Photographs Division, LIbrary of Congress.
The spire, with cityscape beyond. Photo by Charles Marville, ca. 1865. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Panorama de Paris. Photo by Charles Soulier, ca. 1865. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
The Prints and Photographs Division also has one of Viollet le Duc’s books about his restoration of Notre Dame, which included providing the new spire. The entire book is online.
