This book is invaluable to me. My art teacher had a photocopy version of it that I've gone to again and again. I finally found myself a copy and happily shelled out 85$ for it. The reason I found this book far more valuable than the Wiseman book is probably because I'm a student.

This book has more pictures of his drawings, studies, and cartoons than any other I've seen. As well, it has a more thorough description of his working method than any other. I dont mind the black and white nature of most of the book, as most of the book is drawings and sketches, compositional studies and beautiful tracings.

Until the catalog that the ArtRenewelCenter is releasing, (and shamelessly, severely overcharging for, imo) I consider this book to be the best on Boug available. Though, this is the perspective of a student, and it colored by my love of technique and drawing.

This is the official catalog of the 1984 Paris-Montreal exhibition that helped restore some of the luster to Bouguereau's reputation. It contains several critical essays and dozens of reproductions. However - I prefered Wiseman's more recent book for several reasons. Firstly, while Wiseman has fewer reproductions of paintings, they tend to be in colour and printed full-page. Most of the reproductions here are in black and white and small. Secondly, Wiseman includes most of the best-known Bouguereau paintings. Thirdly, Wiseman is simply more readable to a non-professional reader. Much of the information isn't very enlightening to someone who simply wants to learn a bit about Bouguereau's life or enjoy some of his paintings. If you are a professional art historian specializing in pompier art, then I can understand seeking out a copy of this book for your collection. Otherwise, just borrow it from a library.