High place of conservation of medieval architecture, Normandy is the berth of archaeology with the creation in 1824, of the Norman antique society. Since so, and all along the 19th century, a great number of illustrated descriptions were made about the monumental heritage of the region.

From 1892 to 1899, the Le Havre editor A.G. Lemâle publishes a deluxe book illustrated with heliogravures. It is made of 5 books containing 2500 pages of text and one thousand illustrations.

This remarkable editorial feat is at the origin of the exhibition “Picturesque and monumental Normandy” which takes place at the Malraux Museum